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WILD CREATURES AFIELD 




Frontispiece — Wild Creatures Afield 

"GOING OVER TO THE PUMA, HE PUT HIS HAND ON THE 



HANDSOME HEAD 



See page 183 



Wild Creatures Afield 



BY 

Ellen Velvin, F. Z. S. 

Author of "Rataplan, a Rogue Elephant 
Etc. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS UY 

GUSTAVE VERBEEK 



philadelphia 
Henry Altemus Company 






LIBRARY Of CONGRESS 
Tm Copies Receive 

DEC 13 !iKH 

iJJouyrigiu tniry 
CUSS ^ XXC, No; 

^V S<*7 

f COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902, by 
Henry altemus 



TO 

MR. WILLIAM T. HORNADAY 

Director of the New York Zoological Park 

in appreciation of his efforts to popularize useful 

knowledge of wild animals 



CONTENTS 



PAGK 

The Moose 13 

The Opossum 31 

The Llama 49 

The Leopard 57 

The Penguin . . . 77 

The Red Deer • . 95 

The Condor 103 

The Lemming . . .117 

The Monitor 129 

The Glutton j . 143 

The Brown Pelican . 161 

The Puma 173 

The Yak 197 

yii 



viii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The March Haee . . . . . . . . . 211 

The Lyre-bird 225 

The Hamster 237 

The Coyote 249 

The Sloth-bear 265 

The Tasmanian Devil 283 

The Duckbill 295 

The Laughing Jackass 307 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

" Going over to the Puma, he put his hand on the hand- 
some head" Frontispiece 

u The Indian had never seen a finer Moose " . . .17^ 

" He had found a young Opossum all by himself " . 35 

" He was surprised to see another Leopard inside " . . 69 ' 

" One of them was knocked over like a ball " . . 135 

" Graball had him by the throat " 153 

" He turned and tore up the hill again" . . . 203 

" Sang as he had never sung before" .... 229 r 



THE MOOSE 



THE MOOSE 




HY Elker, the Moose, felt so miser- 
ably sick and wretched he did not 
know himself. All he did know was 
that he had suddenly lost his pair of 
beautiful antlers, of which he had 
been so proudly conscious all last summer and 
fall. 

When he discovered his loss he had felt so 
ashamed of himself that he had at once made 
his way into the swamps and marshes where he 
was not likely to be seen, and contented him- 
self with feeding on the leaves and roots of 
the yellow water-lily. He could have obtained 
better and more varied food by leaving the 
swamp and looking round among the trees and 

*3 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

bushes, but in his present state he hated to be 
seen, and so kept carefully in hiding. 

He seemed to get worse as time went on, for 
after awhile, in the very places on each side of 
his head where he had formerly had his beauti- 
ful antlers, there appeared two small, velvety 
knobs, so tender, sensitive, and painful that he 
dared not let even a branch touch them. These 
velvety little knobs grew steadily, and every bit 
of nourishment that Elker obtained from the 
food he ate went to feed and supply those little 
knobs with fresh blood, while his formerly 
strong and vigorous body got thin and weak, 
and he was so tired and weary he could scarcely 
stand. 

An ungainly looking animal at any time, Elker 
now looked more strange and peculiar than ever, 
for his antlers had been his chief beauty. He 
stood about six feet high at the shoulders and 
probably weighed about eight hundred pounds; 
his short, heavy body was about nine feet in 
length, while his long legs, short neck, large 
flapping ears, and long narrow head terminating 

M- 



THE MOOSE 

in a broad over-hanging muzzle, covered with 
very fine hair like silk, made him look as 
though he had just been dug up out of the past 
ages. 

To make his appearance more peculiar, the 
top of his short neck had a crest of stiff, erect 
hairs, while on his throat was a long tuft of hair 
called a "bell." But, clumsy and awkward as 
he appeared, Elker's body was well adapted for 
his life and manner of living. His long legs 
enabled him to take big strides over the swamps 
and marshes when looking for yellow splatter- 
docks, the roots of which he was very fond, 
and his height made it easy for him to reach 
upward and peel the bark off the young trees, or 
bite off the tender shoots and branches. His 
big, fleshy muzzle was splendid, too, for grasp- 
ing things, and if he happened to find some- 
thing nice which was too high for him to reach 
with it, he would back his big body against the 
tree, and very often be able to break the whole 
tree down, and then he could reach the top 
branches easily. 

15 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

But just at this time, Elker did not care much 
even for the roots of his favorite yellow splat- 
terdocks. He had no appetite to speak of, and 
his one desire was to keep himself invisible, and 
in time he grew so nervous about this matter 
that he could scarcely think about anything 
else. 

But after awhile he found, to his great sur- 
prise, that he had another pair of antlers grow- 
ing, but although they had now branched out on 
each side of his head into the same wide, broad 
form, something like a palm, or outspread hand, 
they were still covered with the velvety surface 
caused by very fine hairs, and still tender and 
sensitive. 

Then came a day when he began to feel better, 
and beyond a certain irritation in his antlers 
which he eased by rubbing them against the 
trunks of the trees, he found he was as strong as 
ever. He did not know that by rubbing his 
antlers in this manner he was scraping off all the 
velvety surface and exposing to view a splendid 
pair of new antlers, the form and size of which 

16 




Wild Creatures Afield 

"THE INDIAN HAD NEVER SEEN A FINER MOOSE 



17 



THE MOOSE 

proved that he was now a full-grown Moose, 
and nine years old. 

But as soon as he knew he possessed big ant- 
lers once more, he began to long for a fight, 
and grew restless and uneasy, and tired of the 
swamps. He was not ashamed to be seen now, 
either, but proud and conscious of his beauty 
and strength once more, although many would 
have considered him anything but handsome as 
he made his way between the trees, his big, 
wide, fleshy nose held well up, his antlers laid 
back on his shoulders to avoid the branches, 
and his long legs straddling over the ground in 
a clumsy, shambling gait. 

But as he went out of the swamp, Elker felt 
very proud of himself, and sent forth a chal- 
lenge to fight in a weird, wild bellow, or roar, 
which made the forest echo and re-echo again 
and again. He listened attentively, but to his 
surprise and disappointment there was no an- 
swer, and he sent forth his challenge again with 
the same result as before. 

He grew wild with rage to think there was no 

2- Wild Creatures Afield jq 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

answer, and roared time after time, for lie was 
determined to fight before the day was over. 
And then suddenly in one of the pauses he heard 
something which made all the wild blood leap 
up in him. This was a curious, rasping noise 
caused by the antlers of another Moose being 
rubbed against the bark of a tree, in the very 
way in which Elker had been rubbing his, and 
was not only an answer to his challenge, but a 
direct challenge to himself. 

Crashing through the forest, Elker tore on 
until, guided by the sound being repeated, he 
came close to it, and then stopped— stopped 
so suddenly that he was almost thrown back upon 
his haunches. For he scented danger. He could 
smell Man, and not only smell him, but actually 
see him, for there, hiding cautiously in the 
tangled brushwood, was the form of an In- 
dian, his long, lithe body almost concealed, his 
black, beady eyes peering out between the 
bushes, and in his hand the shoulder-bone of a 
Moose. 

For long hours had the Indian been tracking 
20 



THE MOOSE 

the Moose, and the sound which Elker had an- 
swered so eagerly was caused by the shoulder- 
bone of a dead Moose being drawn against the 
bark of a tree to imitate the challenge of the 
animal. 

The Indian had never seen a finer Moose, 
and it was with a pang of regret and a gruff 
"Hump!" that he saw the animal recover him- 
self, turn round, and disappear before he had 
time even to aim at him. 

But Elker was not going to stay to argue 
matters. He wanted a fight, but with a Moose, 
not Man, and having moss-clad and yielding 
ground in his favor, he made off, in spite of his 
huge bulk, with marvelous rapidity and in abso- 
lute silence. The Indian's stony, expressionless 
face conveyed no disappointment, no surprise. 
He knew another trick worth two of that, and, 
after waiting awhile, he took out a small, dirty- 
looking pipe made out of birch bark, and, put- 
ting it to his mouth, made a peculiar whistling 
sound. 

Almost before the sound had died away, there 
21 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

was another crash through the forest, and Elker 
appeared again in the very spot where he had 
been threatened with danger only such a short 
time before. But when he found that he 
had again been mistaken, his rage knew no 
bounds. 

The Indian, thinking he could not be seen, 
had moved forward a little in order to get a sure 
and good aim this time, but Elker was mad with 
rage, and, turning suddenly, sprang towards the 
Indian, and before he had time to recover from 
his surprise, leaped upon him and deliberately 
trampled him under foot. He went on trampling 
long after the Indian had ceased to breathe and 
when nothing was left but a shapeless mass, and 
— as if in mockery — the shoulder-bone and the 
birch-bark pipe with which he had so vainly 
tried to entrap the Moose. 

But when he had been trampling for some 
time, Elker stopped and listened attentively, for 
coming clearly and distinctly through the forest 
was the challenge of another Moose. There 
could be no doubt this time, for rage and anger 

22 



THE MOOSE 

were contained in that thrilling call, and no one 
could imitate that. 

For the third time, Elker answered the chal- 
lenge with another one, and tearing madly off, 
he suddenly met another Moose face to face. 
And then he had his wish. For there followed 
one of the fiercest fights between two full-grown 
Moose that had ever taken place before in all 
Northern America. 

With bent heads, panting and breathing heav- 
ily, the two animals went at it so fiercely, so 
wildly, and in such deadly earnest that it was 
not very long before their big, powerful antlers 
got interlocked, and then they moved to and 
fro, to and fro, butting, pulling, shaking their 
heavy heads savagely from side to side, and 
steadily getting weaker and weaker. 

And it was a great wonder that they had not 
died in this way, for, had they remained like 
that, they must have starved to death, but, in 
some wonderful manner, after one of the terrific 
wrenches, their antlers got loose again, and, 
panting, wear} 7 , and utterly exhausted, Elker 

2 3 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

thought he would leave off, especially as he 
had had very much the worst of it in many 
ways. 

And whether this fight satisfied him in some 
way or another I do not know, hut for some time 
after this he kept quiet, and when he had a fight 
again, it was because another Moose wanted the 
same wife that he wanted, and he was not going 
to allow that. 

When he had finished that fight, he had 
suffered rather severely, but as he had finally 
got the best of it and the wife he wanted, he 
determined to give up fighting for the time 
being, and became fairly quiet and gentle. 

Elker 's wife was not handsome by any means. 
She had no antlers, for one thing, and was more 
awkward and ungainly-looking than Elker. 
But she was very quiet and good-tempered and 
Elker was very proud of her. They had a de- 
lightful time while the warm weather lasted, 
and kept chiefly to the swamps and lakesides, 
where they found young branches of the striped 
maple, willow, birch, poplar, and other trees. 

24 



THE MOOSE 

When it was very hot, they would wade out into 
the lakes, and feed on lily-roots and succulent 
water-plants, with their big heads half under 
water. 

As the winter came on, they went to the hilly 
woods, and fed on the resinous foliage of the 
evergreens, and any green wood, moss, or lichen 
they could find. But when the snow came they 
had hard times for awhile, and could only tramp 
irregular paths with some other Moose, making 
what is called a "Moose yard." There were 
some birch, poplar, and mountain ash trees 
round about and in this yard, and a little 
balsam, fir, and juniper, and this was about all 
they could get, so that by the end of the winter 
they were all rather thin. 

In January Elker had his miserable time 
again, for he lost his antlers every year and 
had to go through much the same sort of thing, 
but he did not hide himself entirely this time. 
He always kept near his wife, picked all the best 
twigs and branches for her, and did all he could 
to guard her against enemies. But when he was 

25 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

fairly himself again in May, and his antlers were 
growing once more, he found that his wife was 
not the quiet, gentle creature she had been be- 
fore. For she now had two pretty little fawns, 
marked with faint velvety spots, and, at the 
slightest sign of danger, she would raise her 
head, throw back her ears, put her large, sensi- 
tive nose in the air, and, wobbling it about as 
though in search of the enemy, she would sniff 
and blow through her nostrils like a vicious 
horse. 

No one would have recognized in the furious, 
raging animal the same quiet, inoffensive 
creature of some few months before. She in- 
sisted, too, on living in the most secluded and 
out-of-the-way places, for she dreaded the at- 
tacks of wolves or bears, and, although Elker 
did not like it at first, he soon saw that she was 
right. For one night he caught a young bear 
waddling quietly towards the Moose yard, and 
although he soon sent him off, Elker was not 
particularly fond of tackling bears, and much 
preferred to have nothing to do with them. 

26 



THE MOOSE 

So, while the little fawns were very young, 
Elker contented himself by going to some nice 
shady place near by, settling himself comfort- 
ably with his tail to windward, and proceeding 
to chew his cud in placid contentment. But he 
was always on the watch. He would chew his 
cud calmly, but all the while his large ears would 
move perpetually— one backward, the other for- 
ward—for he never could forget how, once upon 
a time, he had been so terribly taken in by that 
Indian.* 

♦Authorities differ as to whether the male Moose remains 
with the doe and fawns. Mr. C. C. Ward states that he has 
often found several whole families in a Moose yard and living 
amicably. — Author. 



27 



THE OPOSSUM 



THE OPOSSUM 




OSSEB. was one of the naughtiest 
young Opossums in the United 
States, and lived in constant danger 
through his own recklessness and 
disobedience. 
His home was in one of the thick, beautiful 
woods of Virginia, and his mother had chosen 
a nice, wide, hollow tree for their special living- 
place, where she reared and brought up her 
various families. She had had rather a hard 
time of it that particular year, for this was her 
third family and the largest of any.* She had 
eight young ones this time, and she had usually 
had onlv six or seven before. 



*Opossums have two or three litters each year, each litter 
numbering from six to fourteen. — Author. 

31 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

But when she thought of one of her neighbors 
who always had ten to fourteen at a time, she 
grew contented and happy, for eight was a small 
number compared to fourteen. The one thing 
that troubled her the most with her last young 
ones was Posser, and he gave her as much 
trouble and anxiety as all the others put to- 
gether. 

From the very minute he was born, and his 
mother— following her usual custom— proceeded 
to put him carefully into her pouch with the 
others, where he would be cosy and comfortable, 
and able to get nice, warm food whenever he 
wanted it, he had begun by promptly tumbling 
out again, a thing which had never happened 
in the family before. Then, tiny and helpless 
as he was, he had a ravenous appetite, and 
never gave the others a minute's peace by his 
constant struggles to get the best place in the 
pouch. 

As he grew older and was able to move about, 
he was more troublesome than ever, and so 
daring and venturesome that at times his 

12 



THE OPOSSUM 

mother grew nervous and irritable, and scolded 
him. 

But Posser was sublimely happy over it all; 
as he grew stronger, he did everything that it 
is possible for an Opossum to do. He burrowed 
into the earth and made nice little tunnels in all 
directions; climbed trees quicker than any of 
his brothers or sisters; and amused himself by 
hanging head downwards with his long, smooth 
tail coiled deftly round a branch, while he 
watched his brothers and sisters climb over their 
mother, giving her an occasional bite with their 
sharp little needle-like teeth, and then creep 
underneath her soft, woolly fur to take a nap. 

But it was at night that Posser was the most 
daring. He never went far from his mother by 
day, but as the evening shadows crept round 
the woods Posser would begin to feel lively, and 
would get out of the pouch, go his own way, and 
venture into the most dangerous places. He 
never went so very far, it is true, and generally 
returned safely, but his poor mother fretted and 
fidgeted herself until he came back again, and 

33 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

then she usually punished him pretty severely. 
One night Posser had gone out as usual, 
hoping to get a nice, fat mouse, or a 
few tasty insects, or perhaps an egg y for 
he was beginning to despise the food his 
mother gave him at home— when he saw a 
very bright light coming towards him. Now, 
daring as Posser was, he did not care for lights, 
and, moreover, he happened to be walking on 
the ground at the time, and, although he could 
climb trees easily and quickly, he was never able 
to walk very well, and so could only move in a 
slow, clumsy manner. 

So that, as the light came nearer and nearer, 
he grew doubly frightened, for he was some 
way from the nearest tree and a long way from 
home. After awhile, the light was so bright and 
dazzling that it seemed to swallow him up, and 
he was so dizzy and confused that he just stopped 
where he was. And then something kicked hirn, 
throwing him to some distance, where he lay 
more dizzy than ever. After this there was the 
sound of footsteps, the light came closer again, 

34 




Wild Creatures Ajield 

' ' HE HAD FOUND A YOUNG OPOSSUM ALL BY HIMSELF 

35 



THE OPOSSUM 

and a little colored boy who held it uttered a 
cry of joy. 

He had found a young Opossum all by him- 
self, and how pleased his folks would be! 
Stooping down, he picked Posser up, looked at 
him carefully with his face grinning with de- 
light, and then laid him down again by the 
lantern. Now, if Posser had only known it, he 
could easily have run away then, but he was 
much too terrified to move, and this the little 
boy knew quite well. The bright light so close 
to him frightened him nearly to death, and the 
kick— which would have killed some rodents— 
made him feel stupid. 

The little colored boy seemed to be busy doing 
something with a stick for a few moments. Then 
he came over and picked Posser up again, but 
this time Posser was not quite so gentle. He 
squeaked, and grunted, and did his very best to 
bite any part of the little boy that he could get 
hold of. But his enemy had seen Opossums 
before and knew their ways, so, after a desper- 
ate struggle, Posser suddenly felt an agonizing 

3— Wild Creatures Afield ^ y 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

pain in his tail, and then found himself being 
carried head downwards. 

Now, to hang head downwards with his tail 
coiled comfortably round a branch, and to hang 
in the same way with that tail held tightly in a 
split stick which has been snapped on to it are 
quite different matters, and so poor Posser 
found. In vain he wriggled and struggled, and 
grunted and squeaked; the more he struggled 
the more his tail hurt — and, oh, how it hurt! — 
and to add to his misery, the little boy gave him 
some very hard knocks, for Posser scratched 
and bit him once or twice, which was not 
pleasant, by any means. 

But an Opossum, even a young one, can stand 
a great amount of knocking about, and so, 
in spite of the kick, and in spite of his many 
knocks and pinched tail, Posser arrived at the 
little boy's home, which was quite close, and, 
after having been shown to his admiring family, 
he was put into a little box, and beyond having 
a sore tail, was none the worse for his adventure, 
except that he was very, very miserable. 

38 



THE OPOSSUM 

He could only look at his enemies with his 
bright little eyes, and give miserable little 
squeaks to show how unhappy he was. But his 
enemies had no idea of ill-treating him. What 
they intended to do was to keep him for a few 
weeks, fatten him up by giving him plenty of 
food, and then kill him and eat him. So in a 
few minutes the little colored boy brought him 
some fruit and corn, two eggs, a small sweet 
potato, and a little bit of fish. 

And Posser ate the whole lot,* and when his 
enemies had finished looking at him, and gone 
to bed, he gnawed and gnawed until, in the 
early morning, he succeeded in finding him- 
self out in freedom once more, and in a very 
short time he was in his own home again. And 
very glad his mother was to see him. 

But it had been a very good lesson to him. 
Never again was he so daring as to go so far 
from home ; never again did he even venture out 
without first looking for signs of danger, and 

*Opossums have enormous appetites. — Author. 

39 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

never again did he worry his mother, for he 
seemed to realize that she was a wise old Opos- 
sum, and knew far more than he did. 

But this was only while he lived with her. 
When he was about two months old and about 
the size of a rat, he went one day to the pouch, 
and there found to his great disgust that it was 
full of other little Opossums, tiny, naked little 
things who looked like little mice. His other 
brothers and sisters seemed to take it quite as 
a matter of course, and seemed quite content to 
stay on their mother 's back with their tails coiled 
round hers, but Posser did not care about this 
sort of thing at all. He liked to be first in every- 
thing, and as he had grown more restless and 
discontented than ever lately, he made up his 
mind to leave his mother and do the best he 
could for himself. 

He found it a little hard at first, but he soon 
got used to it, and I am sorry to say had very 
soon forgotten all about his mother and family 
altogether. He was always happy and sleepy 
by day, but at night he had all sorts of adven- 

40 



THE OPOSSUM 

tures, and, although at times he came very near 
being killed, he generally got out of it in some 
way, and was just as daring and venturesome as 
ever. 

He found plenty of food in the woods; wild 
fruits, nuts, and berries, insects and little reptiles, 
small rats and mice, roots and corn. He al- 
ways enjoyed getting hold of a good cotton rat, 
for he hated cotton rats in one way, but he was 
very fond of eating them. But one day, quite 
early in the morning, Posser found something 
that puzzled him. 

A little way from the home he had made for 
himself were two nice fresh little crabs lying 
on the ground, and a small fish. Posser was 
suspicious at first and kept away, but the crabs 
and fish stayed there, and at last he ventured 
out and stealthily ate them, looking sharply 
round all the time for enemies. But nothing 
happened, and the next day, only when the sun 
was brighter, Posser looked out and saw more 
crabs and more fish lying about. 

This went on for several days, until at last 

4i 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Posser grew so daring that he would go out and 
eat the dainty food slowly and with relish, and 
did not even take the trouble to look round. And 
all this time a man was hiding close by, and 
every time that Posser came out he took his 
photograph, and very nice pictures he got of 
him. 

But one day, just when Posser was enjoying 
himself over a nice crab, the man gave a shout, 
and, as Posser looked round with anger and 
terrible fright on his face, he took his photo- 
graph, and a very cross-looking Opossum he 
was. But that was the last picture the man ever 
took of him, for Posser grew more wary as 
he grew older, and was not going to run any 
risks with a man, even for the sake of dainty 
crabs and delicate fish. In vain the man tried 
all sorts of other food. Posser had had a fright 
and a lesson, and, although his frights and les- 
sons never lasted very long, he kept out of the 
way long enough this time to tire out the man's 
patience, and in time he went away, and Posser 
had the place to himself once more. 

42 



THE OPOSSUM 

Another time, just when he was in a nice, com- 
fortable sleep, he heard the barking of dogs and 
the sound of men's voices. Had he stayed 
where he was he would have been safe, but he 
was startled, and ran out, which was about the 
very worst thing he could do. Trembling all 
over, and with his heart beating and throbbing 
as though it would choke him, Posser stumbled 
blindly along, and just as a big dog came leaping 
towards him with his mouth wide open and his 
red tongue hanging out, Posser got to the foot of 
a tree, and, all his sleepiness and clumsiness dis- 
appearing, he sprang and climbed up the tree- 
trunk quicker even than he had ever climbed 
before. 

Lights appeared now and were coming closer, 
and Posser could see all the dreadful men and 
dogs looking up and trying to find him, the men 
talking and shouting, and the dogs yelping and 
barking until they made him quite giddy. But 
Posser was cunning enough to keep perfectly 
still; he was in a nice little angle where two 
limbs of the tree separated from each other, and 

43 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

laying himself perfectly close to the trunk, he 
never moved anything hut his hright little pig- 
like eyes, and these he never once took off his 
enemies helow. 

Then came an awful experience. One of the 
men climbed the tree, and actually shook the 
very branch he was clinging to. But here 
Posser's daring saved him; instead of dropping 
to the ground, he clung to the branch with all 
his strength— his four paws, each with five sharp 
claws, clutching the branch on either side —his 
snout-like nose laid flat, and his strong, flexible 
tail coiled tightly round a branch to help him 
keep his balance. He thought he would be off 
every minute, but he stuck on, determined not 
to give in, and at last the hunters, not being 
able to see him, and thinking he had gone, 
called the dogs off, and Posser was safe once 
more. 

But he ran greater risks even than this at one 
time. He was enjoying himself one day, teasing 
a cotton rat, when he suddenly found that a man 
was close to him and looking at him. Instantly 

44 



THE OPOSSUM 

Posser pretended to be dead.* Sinking down 
into the grass, he drew back his gums from his 
white, glittering teeth, kept perfectly motion- 
less, and remained immovable until the man, 
thinking it was really a dead Opossum, went 
away. And indeed it was no wonder, for 
Posser 's long, lean, white jaws, skinny tail, black 
withered ears, and draggled, faded, wind-blown 
fur, gave him the exact appearance of a dead 
animal. And so Posser "played 'possum" to 
some purpose, and thereby saved his life. 

And these are only a few of the many adven- 
tures that Posser had. But he still lives on in 
the Virginia woods, and, although he has had 
so many and narrow escapes, he is still as reck- 
less and daring as ever. But he is sublimely 
happy with it all. He sleeps all day, but at 
night he goes out and enjoys himself — catches 
his own food ; climbs trees ; burrows tunnels ; and 
has a delicious swing whenever he wants it by 
simply hanging by his tail- 

*Feigning death is a well-known trick of the Opossum. 
—-Author. 

45 



THE LLAMA 



THE LLAMA 




HE snow was falling so thick and fast 
that everything began to look alike, 
and the big mountains sparkled like 
sugar. There was a curious deadly 
stillness which even the snow seemed 
afraid to disturb, so softly and gently did it fall. 
Suddenly, from a crevice on one of the moun- 
tains, there moved forward what looked for a 
moment like a huge mass of snow. But this 
milk-white object was not snow, but a young, 
pure white Llama, the finest and handsomest of 
all the Llamas in the Andes. He came forward 
swiftly and gracefully, his pretty delicate legs 
and feet sinking into the snow with a short, crisp 
sound, and his handsome head and neck turning 
in all directions, while his soft brilliant eyes 
seemed to be looking for something. 

49 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

This was Merino, and the truth of the matter 
was that lie had had a dispute with his mother, 
and it had all been about a little baby brother 
who had appeared a few months before. Merino 
woke up one fine morning to find a curious 
little white creature covered with short curly 
wool— not a bit like his own or his mother's long 
silky hair— lying by his mother's side making 
funny little noises and squirming feebly. His 
mother, to Merino's great disgust, for he was 
fearfully jealous, was kissing and caressing it 
tenderly, and making the same crooning noises in 
answer just as Merino remembered her doing 
to him when he had been much younger. 

This had been the beginning of the trouble, 
for from that time the Mother Llama devoted 
all her time and nearly all her attention to her 
new baby, although she still allowed Merino to 
come to her for his breakfast and supper* For 

*It is quite a common occurrence to see the young of two 
successive seasons being fed and cared for by a mother Llama 
at the same time. As a rule they live amicably, but in some 
cases the elder of the young ones is extremely jealous and 
lively scenes ensue. — Author. 

50 



THE LLAMA 

a time, although Merino was hurt and offended, 
things went fairly smoothly, for the baby Llama 
was so small, quiet, and inoffensive that he made 
very little difference to Merino and there was 
plenty of food for both. 

As time went on, Merino grew madly jealous 
of his little brother, and did all he could to tor- 
ment him and make his baby life a misery. 
Whenever his mother was not looking, Merino 
would not only bite and butt the poor little 
animal, but would stamp and beat him with his 
two-toed feet with their sharp nails, and was 
even so rude and naughty as to spit at him.* 
He had no horns nor antlers, and so used his 
head, teeth, and feet to the greatest advantage. 

The mother Llama was very vexed and wor- 
ried about it, but when the baby was some weeks 
old, and she noticed that he was weak and miser- 
able and afraid even to take a meal because of 
Merino, she turned on her first-born, and let him 
know she would have nothing more to do with 

♦All Llamas have this peculiar habit of spitting.— Author. 
51 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

him, and that he was now quite old enough to 
take care of himself. 

And so Merino had left his family, and just 
as a snow-storm came on wandered across the 
mountain by himself. He knew well enough 
what to eat, but so far he had not been able to 
find anything on account of the snow. He was 
not so very sorry about being by himself, but, 
oh ! he did so long for just one little bit of Ycho 
grass, for he was getting so very, very hungry. 

Since leaving his mother and brother, he had 
had a shock, too, which had upset and frightened 
him. He had suddenly stumbled across some- 
thing in the snow, and, having the intense curi- 
osity which all Llamas have, had promptly pro- 
ceeded to investigate it. It turned out to be the 
dead body of a guanaco, a cousin of his, and, 
on investigating further, he found a lot of other 
bones, for he had stumbled across one of the 
dying-grounds of the guanacos.* 



*We are told by Darwin that at Santa Cruz he found the 
heads of about eighteen guanacos, with a large number of 



THE LLAMA 

This, added to his hunger and lonliness, made 
him feel very miserable, and so he had come out 
of the crevice to look round, and he little 
dreamed as he stood there that one of his bitter- 
est enemies— Man— was watching him. Gener- 
ally, his keen sense of smell would have warned 
him of this danger, but the snow was helping his 
enemy just then, and so he stood, one of the 
finest young white Llamas to be found in Peru, 
his beautiful soft, silky hair making his enemy 
all the more determined to get him. 

So, while Merino was hesitating as to where 
he should go to find something to eat, a thick 
coil of rope cut through the air, slipped over his 
graceful head and neck, and then tightened so 
cruelly that he sank down on the snow faint and 
breathless. A thick mist came before his eyes, 
he felt sick and giddy, and he remembered no 



bones. His theory was that the animals had crawled there as 
their dying-ground. Mr. W. H. Hudson, on the other hand, 
thinks this is simply due to an inherited instinct to seek refuge, 
or to go away quietly to die, like all other wild animals. — 
Author. 



4~Wild Creatures Afield 



53 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

more until lie found himself in a curious box, 
from which he tried in vain to get out. 

One side of the box had large slits in it, and 
every now and then a man would come and look 
at him, making him pant and quiver with fright 
until he could scarcely breathe. But the man 
did not hurt him ; indeed, he offered him all kinds 
of food, and even a tiny bit of his beloved Ycho 
grass; but Merino was far too sick at heart to 
eat, and could only think of his lost home and 
family, and his beloved mountains and clear, 
fresh air, and paced restlessly up and down his 
cage, making queer little moaning noises, and 
looking beseechingly at his captors with his 
beautiful, pathetic eyes. 

But, after a time, when he realized that no 
one meant to hurt him, he grew quieter and more 
contented and began to eat once more, and when 
he was taken— box and all— and put into a com- 
fortable place with another Llama for company, 
he soon settled down and became one of the 
happiest Llamas you could find anywhere. 



54 



THE LEOPARD 



THE LEOPARD 




T had been one of the hottest days of 
the year, even for Africa, and every- 
thing seemed to be asleep in the 
luxuriant jungle. Not a leaf moved, 
not a sound could be heard but an 
occasional twitter of a bird, or the far-off cry 
of some Kaffirs in the nearest villages. 

Sleep seemed to be about the only thing suit- 
able for such a day, and even the rich leaves and 
grasses drooped a little in a languid manner, as 
though overcome. But towards evening, when 
the sun went down, the hum and buzzing of the 
insects began again, the wild animals awoke, 
stretched themselves lazily, and began to think 
about food. 

57 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Prowler, a handsome full-grown Leopard, had 
been sound asleep since the evening before, when 
he had made a heavy meal off a sheep he had 
killed in the village, and still felt a little stupid 
from the effects. But he roused himself, 
yawned and shook his tawny yellow coat cov- 
ered with black, velvety spots, stretched his 
strong, muscular limbs, drew his terrible claws 
in and out of his soft-looking paws just to see 
that they were in good condition for use, and 
then, with a sly, stealthy look round, crept 
softly through the undergrowth towards the 
village. 

Scarcely any other wild beast would have ven- 
tured to the same place two nights in succession, 
but a Leopard is very daring and will face any- 
thing when he has some object in view. He was 
as crafty, too, as the rest of his kind, and the 
Kaffirs, who were always on the lookout for him, 
were constantly being outwitted. 

As soon as Prowler had cleared the wood and 
reached the open, he ran lightly forward, and 
then stopped suddenly. For, coming out of the 

58 



THE LEOPARD 

village to meet him, were a number of Kaffirs 
who made it their special business to capture 
and kill Leopards. 

One very tall, strong man led the way. He 
had a cloak of Leopard skin —called a Kaross— 
round his body, a fringe of Leopards' tails 
round his waist, and a necklace made from the 
teeth and claws of Leopards. The number of 
tails signified how many Leopards he had killed, 
and the hunter who has the largest number of 
tails always takes the lead, so it was not much 
wonder that this Kaffir looked very proud and 
important as he came forward, followed by other 
Kaffirs, each wearing something belonging to a 
Leopard. 

Prowler knew perfectly well who they were 
and what they wanted, and, daring as he was, 
decided to go back. He took care, however, to 
show himself first, and to let the hunters see 
him go into the wood again. Then he crept 
stealthily up a tree, laid himself close to a branch 
and waited. 

But the Kaffirs knew all these little tricks, and 
59 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

kept a keen lookout among the branches. They 
had all passed him, and Prowler was just begin- 
ning to think he was safe, when suddenly the 
leader shouted out: 

' ' Lackreebang ! Laekreebang ! " ( Tree-tiger ) . 
In an instant Prowler sprang down into the 
midst of them, killing two men, wounding an- 
other one, and was off before they had time to 
realize what had happened. He went straight 
through the wood, and the remaining hunters 
followed cautiously, keeping a sharp lookout. 
Every now and then Prowler would make a 
curious hoarse noise, something between a grunt 
and a cough, just to let the hunters know in what 
direction he was going. 

This seemed rather a silly thing to do, but 
Prowler knew what he was about. When he had 
led the Kaffirs a long way through the wood, he 
crouched down in some thick undergrowth and 
kept perfectly still until the hunters had passed 
him. As they passed he could easily have 
reached out one of his paws and struck them, 
but they had let some fire and smoke out of 

60 



THE L E O P A R D 

things they carried when he had jumped among 
them, and he was afraid. 

As soon as they had passed, and their cautious 
footsteps had died away in the distance, Prowler 
made his way silently and softly straight back 
again, but not to the village. He was daring 
and reckless at any time, but he was not so 
daring and reckless as all that. He knew that 
he would be likely to meet them on his way back 
again, and he preferred to wait until another 
day. 

He had skillfully led them away from a little 
dead calf which he had killed the night before, 
and, being unable to eat it then, had hidden up 
in a fork of a tree. He would have left it there 
a few days longer, for he knew no lions or jackals 
could get at it, but as he had been prevented 
from going to the village he decided to make a 
meal of it now. He knew the hunters would not 
be likely to come back that way, because he had 
given them the impression that they were follow- 
ing him, which was just what he had intended 
to do. 

61 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

So after creeping swiftly but silently through 
the tall grass and thick foliage, Prowler at last 
reached the tree where he had hidden the calf, 
and with a light spring was up the trunk of the 
tree and enjoying a nice meal off one of 
the Kaffir's young animals, while the Kaffirs 
themselves were thinking they were still follow- 
ing the Leopard. Being determined not to give 
up the chase this time, they plodded wearily on 
and on, and only retraced their steps when they 
were too tired and footsore to go any further. 

And, from his shelter in the tree, Prowler saw 
them in the distance, and could easily have fol- 
lowed them up and killed a few more of them, 
only he was too languid after his meal for one 
thing, and too lazy for another. So he let them 
go, watching them with his fierce and cruel yel- 
low eyes blazing with rage, for he had not for- 
gotten the fright they had given him, and he 
hated them more than ever. 

But he intended to serve them out for it an- 
other time, and in a couple of nights he was at 
the village again, and sliding so quietly and 

62 



THE LEOPARD 

quickly into one of the cattle-pens that, although 
Kaffirs were posted in all directions with in- 
structions to keep a careful watch, not one of 
them had the least idea that the very Leopard 
they were watching for had actually passed 
them and was already in the village. 

Even outside the very pen in which Prowler 
had entered men were stationed, but Prowler 
had sprung lightly on the roof, torn away the 
thatch with which the pen was covered and gone 
coolly inside. He selected a fine young heifer, 
killed it with one deep grasp of his powerful 
jaws, and then set to work to eat it. 

He seemed to be in no hurry, although he knew 
he was surrounded on all sides by enemies, but 
began in his usual methodical way and took 
plenty of time over it. He did not begin at the 
hind quarters and eat upwards as a Tiger al- 
ways does, but tore out the inside and ate the 
heart, liver, and lungs first. 

He was just in the middle of his meal when, to 
his surprise and rage, there was a scrambling 
noise, a light jump, and the next moment an- 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

other Leopard landed close to him, and prepared 
to share his feast. But Prowler was not going 
to allow that. He dropped what he had in his 
mouth, and the next moment, after a few hoarse, 
throaty growls, and vicious snarls, two Leopards 
were having a desperate fight in a cattle-shed. 

Such a thing was almost unheard of, and the 
growling of the animals, the bellowing of the 
cattle, and the bleating of the sheep speedily 
brought out all the villagers, who were too terri- 
fied to do much else but shout, shriek, and wail. 

The Kaffirs who had been sent to keep guard 
rushed to the shed from all directions, and very 
soon the whole village was in an uproar, men 
shouting, women and children screaming and 
crying with terror, and all the animals wild with 
fear. 

So enraged were the Leopards that they paid 
no attention whatever to the noise, but with 
glowing eyes, fierce snarls, and tremendous 
strength, fought desperately. The leader of the 
hunters climbed up on the roof, took a good aim, 
and fired. When the smoke cleared away, one 

64 



THE LEOPARD 

big, tawny, spotted body could be seen panting 
on the floor of the shed, and another spotted 
animal stood up, looked round with a dazed air 
for a few minutes, and then sprang out and away 
before any one had time to touch him. 

And the hunter got another Leopard's tail to 
add to his others, and hoped it was the Leopard 
who had been giving them so much trouble 
lately. But it was not. For Prowler had got 
away, and it was the strange Leopard who had 
been killed. And this escape only made Prowl- 
er more daring and reckless than ever. He de- 
termined to go to the village again the next 
night, but meanwhile he lay down and had a 
good sleep. 

He was just dreaming that he was in the cat- 
tle-shed again and killing more animals, and 
that the poor things were making a terrible 
noise, when he suddenly woke up to find a num- 
ber of monkeys overhead watching him, and 
chattering to such a degree that the noise was 
deafening. They were all looking down at him 
with their bright, quick eyes full of terror, their 

65 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

anxious, worried little faces looking more 
anxious and worried than usual, and their lithe 
bodies trembling all over. 

All monkeys look upon a Leopard as one of 
their most deadly enemies, and yet if they find 
him asleep, will always stop to look at him and 
chatter.* Prowler lay perfectly still for a few 
moments, and then, selecting a nice plump 
young monkey, he suddenly sprang up the 
smooth-barked, straight trunk of the tree with 
such wonderful speed that he caught it without 
the least trouble, while the others tore off, chat- 
tering, screaming, and scolding at the top of 
their voices. 

In vain the poor little monkey whimpered and 
cried. A Leopard has no pity, especially for a 
monkey, which he looks upon as a great delicacy, 
and in a very short time he was having another 
dainty meal. But the monkey was a very small 
one and not very satisfying, so after another 



:: In some curious way, Leopards seem to have the same 
deadly fascination for monkeys as snakes. They appear to be 
unable to get away. — Author. 

66 



THE LEO P A R D 

little sleep Prowler woke up in the evening feel- 
ing hungry again. 

He thought he would have some chickens or a 
dog this time— he was very fond of dogs, espe- 
cially puppies— so once more betook himself to 
the village. He went very cautiously, however, 
for he was cunning enough to know that it was 
dangerous to go again so soon. There was a 
curious-looking big wooden box just outside the 
village, something like a mouse-trap, and Prowl- 
er thought he might just as well see what it was. 

One end of it was open, and, as he peeped in 
he was surprised to see another Leopard inside. 
In an instant Prowler concluded that it must be 
the other Leopard he had been fighting with the 
night before, and his fur went up at the very 
thought of it, and he waved his soft, furry tail 
to and fro in anger. The other Leopard at once 
did the same, and Prowler's anger rose at the 
sight in a moment. 

Wild with rage, he sprang into the box— there 
was a loud, sharp snap— and Prowler was a 
prisoner. The Leopard he had seen was only 

67 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

the reflection of himself in a looking-glass, and 
the box had been pnt there by the Kaffirs ex- 
pressly for him. In vain he tore round and 
round the cage, while the hunters came and 
looked at him and yelled with joy. 

The women and children came, too, and so 
delighted were they all at his capture that they 
all had a wild, weird dance that evening in the 
Kaffir village, while Prowler tore and scratched 
at the sides of his hateful prison in a mad, use- 
less endeavor to get out. But he did not get out. 
He stayed in it until a strange white man came 
and looked at him, and talked with the big 
Kaffir ; after this he was taken away in some hor- 
rible jolting thing, and then in another mysteri- 
ous something which went over the water, and 
at last he found himself in a clean house with 
iron bars all over the top and at the sides. 

There was another Leopard on one side of 
him, and a Tiger on the other, but he had had 
enough fighting with Leopards, and when he got 
a little used to the place and to all the people 
coming to look at him, he would try to fight the 

68 




Wad Creatures Afield 

" HE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE ANOTHER LEOPARD INSIDE 



69 



THE LEOPARD 

Tiger, springing at the bars, tearing at the 
strong wire netting, and then racing back to his 
bench again to wait for another opportunity. 

And after a time Prowler made so much fuss 
that he had to be moved. He would not let the 
Tiger alone, and the Tiger, who was just as 
savage as himself, did not see why he should be 
worried and tormented by an animal smaller 
than himself, and so they went on day after 
day, and week after week, and were both 
too stupid to see that it was very silly and quite 
useless. 

Then Prowler was moved next to a Lion, 
and here he began the same thing over again. 
And so it went on, until at last they had such a 
lot of trouble with him that he was put into a 
cage away from the others and had a big, white 
sign hung over his cage with ' i Dangerous ' ' writ- 
ten on it in big letters, and all the people would 
look at him with awe, and yet admire him tre- 
mendously, for he was a beautiful animal. 

And Prowler would lie there and take it all 
as quite a matter of course, and as though he 

5— Wild Creatures Afield J I 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

had been accustomed to that sort of thing all his 
life. But he hated men, and was always on the 
lookout to do them some injury. True, the men 
were very good and kind to him, and his keeper 
always took great pains to see that he had plenty 
of good, fresh meat, clean water, and a nice, 
clean, comfortable house. 

But Prowler had no gratitude. He would 
have eaten up his keeper any time if he could 
only have got at him, but he never had the 
chance. The keepers were very, very careful 
with everything connected with Prowler, for he 
was a very fierce and dangerous animal. And 
so he lived on, greatly admired by every one, and 
always having a larger crowd round his cage 
than any other animal in the Exhibition. 

And after a time Prowler got quite used to it. 
He slept half the time, woke up and paced his 
cage restlessly when near feeding-time, ate his 
meal, and then went to sleep again. But all his 
food was given to him on end of a prong, and 
an extra rail was put round him, for, in spite of 
his sleepiness, his huge paw was always ready 

72 



THE LEOPARD 

to slip through the bars, and give any one who 
happened to be passing a hard tap. 

And in this way he lived to a good old age, 
but was just as fierce and savage when he was 
old as when he was young and strong and lived 
a wild, free life in his native forests. 



73 



THE PENGUIN 



THE PENGUIN 




HERE had been a family quarrel, 
and the Mother Penguin and all the 
little Penguins were feeling ex- 
tremely cross. 

It was no wonder that the Mother 
Penguin was feeling cross, for she had been try- 
ing all day long to make her little ones leave 
the nest and go down to the seashore, where 
she wanted to teach them the proper way to fish. 
She had brought them up very carefully and 
taken a great deal of trouble and pains with 
them, and it certainly was rather vexing to find 
that the very first time she asked them to do 
something they became naughty and diso- 
bedient, and were just as obstinate as they 
could be. 

77 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

In the first place, she showed them the proper 
way to walk by getting off the nest, standing up 
with her funny little wings spread out, and her 
snow-white breast covered with small, close 
feathers held well forward. Then she strutted 
along in the correct Penguin manner, which was 
very dignified and important, although a trifle 
awkward. She stumbled a good deal, but this 
was because she kept looking at the little soft, 
downy forms of her babies and so did not notice 
all the odd stones and bits of loose rock which 
were lying about. 

After this she walked back to the nest— if 
such a place could be called a nest— and did all 
she could to persuade the young ones to follow 
her. But the little Penguins only looked at her 
quietly, winked their curious eyes which always 
looked tearful, twisted their fluffy little bodies 
round in the nest, and then settled themselves 
down as before. 

After a time, however, the Mother Penguin 
lost patience. All the other young Penguins in 
the place were beginning to walk quite nicely 

78 



THE PENGUIN 

now, and did a good bit of their own fishing, 
and she was anxious for her babies to do the 
same. So, waddling up to the nest she admin- 
istered a sharp peck to each and prepared to go 
off by herself. This was serious, so they 
clumsily scrambled out of the nest, and did their 
best to do as their mother did. 

The biggest one, Penny, did two steps quite 
well, but little Prin, who had always been small 
and delicate, could not manage it at all, and, 
what was more, did not try. Finding it very 
tiring to stand up, she just settled down again 
as soon as her mother had turned her back, and 
when she and Penny had turned a corner of 
rock, she scrambled back once more into the 
nest and settled herself comfortably. 

The Mother Penguin, thinking the two chicks 
were following her, waddled on, and had nearly 
got to the shore when, on looking back, she found 
to her great dismay that she was alone and that 
neither of her children were to be seen any- 
where. The fact was, after the first few steps 
Penny got tired, and, seeing an empty nest in a 

79 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

nice comfortable corner, he just got into it 
and sat down, leaving his mother to go on by 
herself. 

As soon as the poor mother bird found that 
neither of her little ones was with her, she 
uttered a hoarse croak and strutted back to the 
nest once more, meaning to give both the young 
Penguins a severe punishment. 

But to her dismay, when she reached the nest 
it was quite empty and not a sign of a young 
Penguin could be seen anywhere. In terrible 
distress the poor little mother called and called, 
but no answer came, and as she looked at the 
empty nest which she had taken such trouble to 
make of nice dry leaf -stalks and pringle seed 
stones, her distress was pitiable. 

She was just starting off again, when, to her 
great joy, she saw Penny coming towards her, 
and a fine time he was having of it to judge 
from his screams and cries. Holding himself 
bolt upright in the way he had seen his mother 
do, he scrambled along as best he could over 
the rough, stony ground and rock, and all the 

80 



THE PENGUIN 

other Penguins helped him on his way by peck- 
ing, chasing, and shouting at him in their hoarse 
voices. 

How he ever got to his mother he never knew, 
but he was so thankful to see her again and so 
tired and weary that he scrambled on and on, 
and never stopped until he had reached her. But 
anxious as his mother had been about him, she 
was very angry now and punished him by giving 
him a hard peck. 

This made Penny angry and he behaved 
badly, and was so extremely rude as to open his 
mouth at his mother, a thing no chick had ever 
done to her before. And just at that moment 
up came Prin in her quiet way as though nothing 
had happened, and so she got punished too, and 
this made her cross, and that was how the quar- 
rel began, and why they were all feeling so cross 
that particular evening. 

The fact was, both little Penguins were very 
hungry and wanted their supper, and both had 
been very, very frightened, and so, what with 
that and their mother's punishment and anger, 

81 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

it was not much wonder that they both felt 
miserable. 

This had gone on for some time, and the 
Mother Penguin was just beginning to think 
of their supper and of getting them some nice 
fresh fish— for she certainly did not mean to let 
them go hungry all night long— when a most 
peculiar-looking object was thrust into the nest 
and stroked the soft fluffy down of each of the 
little Penguins. 

This curious-looking object was a man's hand, 
and the stroking did not hurt them a bit, but 
all three birds were terribly frightened, and 
the Mother Penguin stalked round, swelled out 
her white breast, and gave funny little hoarse 
cries, begging and imploring the enemy not to 
hurt her young ones. The enemy did not know 
what she said, but he could see how terribly 
frightened they all were, and so, as he had no 
intention of hurting them, he went quietly away, 
and left them all together once more. 

And, somehow or other, the Mother Penguin 
forgot her anger, and could only think of the 

82 



THE PENGUIN 

joy of having her little ones safe again. And 
the little ones found it so natural to creep close 
to their mother in a time of danger like that, that 
they forgot all about the punishment, and were 
only too glad to be good and obedient little Pen- 
guins once more. 

And their mother quietly wandered off to 
the seashore, and brought back a beautiful sup- 
per of nice fresh fish. 

And after this they settled down for the night, 
the little ones nestling under their mother to 
keep warm, and the mother spreading her body 
contentedly over them. Prin nestled her head 
into her mother 's warm breast, but Penny, with 
much difficulty, tucked his head under his tiny 
flipper as he had seen some of the grown-up 
Penguins do. Their mother shortened her neck, 
so as to bring her head close to her body, slanted 
her beak upwards and forwards, and, shutting 
her eyes tightly, went fast to sleep almost as 
soon as her little ones. 

And after this the little Penguins were much 
more obedient and did as they were told, which 

83 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

saved a lot of trouble both to their mother and 
to themselves, and then, oh, what good times 
they had ! 

One day their mother taught them how to go 
tobogganing.* She led them up to the top of a 
gentle slope— not without a great deal of trouble, 
for the two little Penguins found it very difficult 
to go uphill at all, and kept tumbling back al- 
most as fast as they got up— and after resting 
a little while at the top— for she was a very 
thoughtful mother— the old Penguin showed the 
two little ones how to lay themselves flat on 
their breasts, with their faces downhill, to lift 
up their beaks and little wings, and then just to 
let themselves go down the hill. 

Penny did it very well, but not without many 
flutterings of his small heart, and reached the 

*Penguins are extremely fond of gliding down slopes in 
this fashion. They settle themselves comfortably on their 
breasts and go to the bottom, evidently enjoying the motion. 
In many cases it appears to be a sort of pastime with them, 
and they present a most curious appearance when doing 
this. — Author. 

8 4 



THE PEN G U I X 

bottom in safety, but Prin was nervous, and, 
coming across a big stone half-way down, gave 
it up, uttered a hoarse cry, and just stayed where 
she was until the other two came up again. 

So this time the Mother Penguin kept close 
by her side, and went slowly and gently down 
the slope with her. Whenever they came across 
any stones, rocks, or any other obstacles, she 
showed the little Penguin how to either turn to 
one side with the help of her wings, or else lift 
herself over the obstacle, and after a few more 
trials both the little Penguins found it was quite 
easy. 

They always found it a little difficult to get up 
to the top, because their small bodies and limbs 
were not adapted for climbing, but when they 
reached the top the coming down more than re- 
paid them for the trouble. They would flop 
down on their breasts, make funny little cries of 
delight, and then, watching for their mother's 
signal, away they would go, gliding easily and 
safely to the bottom, and feeling as proud and 
important as any grown-up Penguin. 

85 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

One fine day, when all the Penguins were 
either strutting about in their peculiar, pompous 
fashion, pluming their feathers, or gliding down 
slopes, there suddenly appeared a stranger on 
the island, and this was a Man stranger whom 
they were all dreadfully afraid of, as he always 
carried things which held fire and smoke. One 
or two old Emperor Penguins, who were always 
on the lookout for danger, made a great to-do 
at once, and, uttering their peculiar duck-like 
cry, strutted boldly forward to meet him, and 
by their recklessness were very soon killed. But 
the cries of these old Penguins put the others 
on their guard, and away they all scuttled as fast 
as their awkwardness would let them. 

The Mother Penguin was in a dreadful way. 
It was almost worse than that terrible time when 
Penny and Prin had been so naughty and she 
was unable to find them. Fortunately they 
happened to be just by a crevice of a rock, and 
into this they scuttled as soon as they possibly 
could. Not a sound did either of them make 
until they were absolutely sure that the enemy 

86 



THE PENGUIN 

had really gone off the island again. This the 
Mother Penguin made quite sure of before she 
allowed her little ones to even show their beaks 
outside once more. 

But when she had actually seen the enemy go 
off in a boat, she waddled back, and, as they all 
quickly forgot danger when it was once over, 
they were soon feeling as happy as ever. 

Then came a delightful day when their mother 
taught them to dive down to the bottom of the 
water and take walks among the seaweed. 
They were both good fishers by this time, and 
could almost keep themselves in food, but they 
had a great deal to learn yet, and had not half 
finished their education. 

So off they started down to the shore, and al- 
though they certainly were funny-looking ob- 
jects, and waddled along in the most awkward 
manner, they were very fine young birds for all 
that, and their good feeding, plentiful exercise, 
and good bringing up, had made them grow and 
develop in the most wonderful manner. Very 
proud and pleased their mother felt of them, 

6- mid Creatures Afield 87 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

and considered that all the trouble she had taken 
was more than repaid. 

"When they arrived at the edge of the water, 
away they went, head over heels, with a terrific 
splash into the water, and for a few minutes 
nothing could be seen but a confused mass of 
black and white beaks, webbed feet, and spray. 
Then out they all came again, making leap after 
leap out of the water, forming short curves in 
the air, and then down with a big splash into 
the water again. 

The Mother Penguin wanted them to dive 
down at once, but the two little ones were so 
happy and full of spirits that they were obliged 
to have a good frolic first, and when their 
mother saw how they enjoyed it she joined in 
too, for all she wanted was just to see them 
happy. But after awhile, they got a little tired, 
and scrambled through the surf to the shore, 
and struggled up among the black pebbles on 
the beach, very wet and dripping birds, but 
just as happy as they could be. 

When they had recovered their breath and 
88 



l 1 1 E PENGUIN 

had rested a little, the Mother Penguin went for- 
ward to show them the way to dive. Down went 
her beak and head into the water and np went 
her funny webbed feet, and the little ones fol- 
lowed in exactly the same manner, and did it as 
naturally as though they had never done any- 
thing else all their lives. 

Down they went, gliding in between thick sea- 
weed, and through the strongest waves as easily 
as though they were flying in the air like other 
birds ; down and down until they reached a beau- 
tiful forest of delicate thread-like plants, some 
so soft and fluffy that they looked like the finest 
silk, while others looked like magnificent trees. 
All these plants were of the most beautiful col- 
ors too— green, and pink, and bright red, while 
some were of a dark, deep crimson. 

When they reached these beautiful plants they 
stopped diving and rested on their feet, for they 
were at the bottom of the sea, and all these beau- 
tiful plants were seaweed. There were many 
other beautiful things there too— coral in great 
beds of curious shapes and sizes, some looking 

89 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

like tiny caves or houses, and some looking al- 
most like palaces ; crabs, which gave them a lot 
of trouble, as they were spiteful creatures and 
pinched horribly ; all kinds of shell-fish, some of 
which they ate, but did not care particularly for ; 
small fish, which darted hither and thither, but 
which the little Penguins caught with wonderful 
quickness and enjoyed thoroughly; and all sorts 
of other nice things which would take too long to 
talk about. 

And the Mother Penguin and her little ones 
walked about in this beautiful place and enjoyed 
it thoroughly, but they were not able to stay 
down very long at a time, because they were 
obliged to come up every now and then to 
breathe. But they went down several times that 
day, and it was one of the most enjoyable and 
delightful times they had ever had. 

But in time the young Penguins grew inde- 
pendent, and were able to get all their own food 
and look after themselves, and when this took 
place their mother was not sorry for she had 
worked very hard and faithful in bringing them 

90 



THE PENGUIN 

up, and began to feel she needed a little rest her- 
self. 

So one day, when she found they had left her 
entirely, and were forming part of the long line 
of Penguins on the ledges of the rocks, she took 
it quite calmly and settled down to have a good, 
comfortable time by herself. But she often 
looked at her children proudly, for they were 
undoubtedly two of the finest and most clever 
Penguins on the whole of Kerguelen Island, and 
could often be seen leading a troop of birds 
either to the water, or up to the rookeries, where 
the Penguins would sometimes collect in thou- 
sands. 



9i 



THE RED DEER 



THE RED DEER 




N one of the thickest covers of a beau- 
tiful shady forest of Germany, a Red 
Deer was one day standing, looking 
placidly at the deepening shadows 
with her beautiful eyes, and wonder- 
ing how soon she could venture out to get some 
food. 

She had a double reason for being anxious, 
for she was a Mother Deer and a short distance 
away, artfully concealed in the high heather, 
were two pretty little fawns with spotted bodies 
and delicately formed legs and feet, small, well- 
shaped heads, and beautiful eyes like their 
mother's. 

She had no fear of their being seen, for before 

95 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

leaving them that morning she had made them 
lie down by giving each of them a gentle pres- 
sure with her soft nose, and they knew they 
ought not to move until she came back again. 
They both lay quite still, huddled up in their 
own peculiar fashion, with their noses turned 
to their tails, much in the same manner in which 
a dog lies, and the only sign of life was when 
they turned softly round to change their po- 
sition, or took a quiet peep round with their 
large dark eyes. 

At the same time that the Mother Deer was 
thinking about going back to them, they also 
were wondering when she would come, for they 
were beginning to feel very hungry and wanted 
their supper. Presently there was a little rustle 
in the heather, and, forgetting caution, the two 
little fawns sprang up, tried to balance them- 
selves on their rickety little legs, and looked 
round eagerly. 

But instead of their mother's graceful, digni- 
fied form, they saw, creeping stealthily and 
warily through the heather, an animal with a 

9 6 



THE RED DEER 

steel-gray furry coat, and a round, hairy, wicked 
face, with big cruel eyes that never winked, out- 
standing whiskers, and sharp-pointed ears with 
curious little tufts at the tops of them. 

This was a lynx, or wildcat, and one of the 
Red Deer's deadliest enemies when fawns are 
about. The little fawns did not know what it 
was, but they knew, in some way or other, that 
it was something to be afraid of, and the cruel 
face with its tufted ears, and the sharp, terrible 
teeth, which it showed at sight of the fawns, 
made them shiver with fear. 

In vain they called for their mother in their 
soft, gentle manner, while their slim, delicate 
bodies sank down again on the ground, the thin, 
weak legs refusing to hold them up any longer. 
Not a sound could be heard but the soft rustling 
of the heather as the wildcat made his way slowly 
but steadily towards them. 

But the Mother Deer knew all about it. She 
was always careful to take up her position to 
the windward, so that she could catch the very 
faintest scent of a lynx, fox, or any other enemy 

97 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

who might be lingering round in her neighbor- 
hood. She had just decided that the June sun 
was sinking, and that it was time for her little 
ones' supper, when, borne on the soft evening 
air, there came to her the strong scent of a 
wildcat. 

Shy and timid, like all Red Deer, in this case 
the Mother Deer forgot everything but the fact 
that there was a wildcat about, and that it was 
probably on the lookout for her fawns. In an 
instant she became nervous, restless, and anx- 
ious, but there was no sign of fear, for her 
motherhood made her think of nothing but the 
safety and protection of her children. 

Could she only tell exactly where the enemy 
was it would not be so difficult, but a hidden foe 
always made her uneasy. She came out of the 
forest— for the wildcat was a long way off yet— 
and moved slowly across the patch of heather 
where her little ones were hidden. Then sud- 
denly she stopped, her delicate legs and feet 
hidden, and only her reddish-brown body show- 
ing; her graceful head was turned to one side in 

9 8 



•■*. 



THE RED DEER 

a listening attitude; her whitish-gray throat was 
beating painfully; and her liquid brown eyes 
glancing in all directions, wide open and wild 
with fear. 

Then the rank smell of the lynx grew stronger, 
and in a small pathway, caused by the bent- 
down sprays of the heather, she saw, to her 
horror, a full-grown lynx making straight for 
the hiding-place of her children. There was no 
more hesitation. From a gentle, shy creature 
starting and quivering at every sound, she was 
transformed, through her motherhood, into an 
angry, furious animal, daring and defiant, and 
ready to face anything, even death itself, to save 
the precious lives of her offspring. 

With a wild bound forward she came 
upon the lynx with such appalling suddenness 
and with such a shower of kicks from her sharp 
hoofs, that, surprised and startled, he decided, 
after giving vent to his rage and disappoint- 
ment by snarling fiercely and spitting violently, 
to go home and try again another time. So, 
hissing, spitting, and scolding in his furious pas- 

99 

LtfC. 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

sion, the lynx made off, looking back now and 
again to send another shower of hisses back at 
the Mother Deer, and hoping with all his heart 
that she might get killed, so that he could get 
the fawns after all. 

But the Mother Deer did not get killed. She 
lived to bring up her babies; and very proud 
she was of them, for very few Eed Deer have 
more than one fawn at a time, and she not only 
had two, but they were particularly fine young 
animals, healthy and strong. And so they all 
lived very happily together after this until the 
fawns were able to take care of themselves, and 
then the Mother Deer, having done her duty 
faithfully and well, went back to her husband and 
joined the herd again. 



100 



THE CONDOR 



THE CONDOR 




! IKE all large Vultures— and his 
species was the largest of all the 
birds of prey— Gawkes, the Condor, 
did extremely silly and stupid things 
sometimes, but perhaps the silliest 
thing he ever did was when he stood on a pro- 
jecting ledge of one of the highest peaks of the 
Andes and played with an old bone. 

It was part of the thigh-bone of an ox, and 
had been brought there by one of the other Con- 
dors to enjoy at his leisure. Gawkes was feel- 
ing in high spirits for some reason or other, and, 
being in a playful mood, decided to have a little 
game by himself. A small bird would have 
played with a twig in the same manner and 
looked pretty, graceful, and dainty, but there 

7— Wild Creature j Afield ~LO\ 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

was nothing either pretty, graceful, or dainty 
about Gawkes. 

To begin with, he was too big and clumsy. His 
heavy, cumbersome body was about forty inches 
long, his large black feet strong and muscular, 
and the span of his wings, when stretched to 
their fullest extent, was nearly nine feet. His 
feathers were a dirty-looking black, with white 
in the wings, and a pure white ruff: round his 
neck. It looked as though the feathers had been 
frightened by that white ruff, for not a single 
one grew beyond it. The rest of his neck and 
head were quite bare, being covered with a 
curious, rusty-looking skin, forming a wattle on 
his throat, another on his chest, and a third just 
behind his beak, which looked like a little crest. 

He was about as ugly a bird as one could find 
anywhere, but his movements were uglier still. 
He would look at the bone with his stupid head 
on one side for a few minutes, then pick it up, 
spread out his huge wings, and career round and 
round in the most solemn manner. He generally 
managed to trip over something or other, and 

104 



THE CONDOR 

then down would go the bone, up would go his 
wings, and, pretending to be scared, he would 
walk clumsily off, lifting each wing simul- 
taneously with a foot in a heavy, awkward 
fashion. 

After awhile, he would look back, turn him- 
self round, and, wobbling over to the bone again, 
pick it up, spread out his wings, and career 
gravely round and round as before. Every now 
and then he would give a peculiar little hiss— 
that being the only sound he could make, having 
no voice— and then begin all over again. 

So taken up had Gawkes been with his game, 
that he had not noticed that all the other Condors 
were making their way to the plains below. But 
in one of his pauses he happened to look down, 
and his wonderful keen eyes suddenly noticed a 
number of Condors feeding on the carcass of a 
Guanaco lying in the valley. 

Forgetting the bone, Gawkes walked away 
from the ledge of the rock— for he was unable to 
rise from level ground unless he had a little run 
first— and then, shambling forward hastily, 

105 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

lifted himself in the air, circled round once or 
twice over the spot where the Condors were 
feeding, and then swooped down in the midst of 
them. 

But, alas! while he had been playing on the 
rocks, his companions had eaten every single 
scrap of carrion they could find. The skin and 
inside were gone, and nothing was left but the 
biggest bones, and these were picked as clean 
as though they had been washed. 

Now, Gawkes was hungry, although he had 
not thought much about it until he saw the other 
Condors feeding, and, being angry, he gave 
those nearest him some hard pecks with his 
powerful beak, which they returned promptly. 
One old Condor, noted for his bad temper and 
quarrelsome nature, gave Gawkes three blows 
in return for each one he had given, and in a 
very few minutes he and Gawkes were having a 
terrible fight. 

With outspread wings, and with their 
wrinkled, rust-colored bald heads getting a pe- 
culiar purple from rage, the Condors fought, 

1 06 



THE CONDOR 

always aiming at one another's heads and eyes, 
and inflicting terrible blows with their beaks 
and strong claws. 

When it was finished Gawkes was an awful 
sight. His feathers were ruffled and torn, there 
were one or two bare places on his body, and 
he had lost an eye. And all this really came 
about by his playing with that old bone instead 
of keeping his eyes open and noticing what was 
going on, as all sensible Condors should do. 

Perhaps it was on this account that, after this, 
he kept more to the plains ; he went to the heights 
sometimes, because he had a wife up there who 
had laid two white eggs on the rock— she never 
made a nest— and he took a great interest in 
them. When, after a time, two funny little birds 
came out of the eggs covered with soft gray 
down, he was more interested still, but he was 
always glad to get back to the plains again, 
and when, after a few months, the young birds 
were getting big and strong, and rather inclined 
to be rude and indifferent, he grew tired of 
them, and left the heights altogether. 

107 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

By this time his feathers had grown again, 
and he was well and strong once more, but he 
still missed his eye, and found it very awkward 
at times, especially when there were enemies 
about and he needed to look out in all directions. 
But he got along very well according to his view 
of it, although he was getting to be well known 
by the Gauchos (herdsmen) for his dreadful 
depredations among the sheep and cattle. 

He was particularly fond of young calves, 
and, although he did not carry them off, he 
killed and injured a great many more than he 
could possibly eat. It was a favorite pastime 
of his to choose a brilliantly sunny day, and 
when some foolish young calf or lamb was stand- 
ing facing the dazzling rays of the sun, to swoop 
down, pick out its eyes, and then tearing out one 
or two dainty morsels, do the same thing to some 
other poor creature. 

He generally managed to do enough mischief 
to cause the death of the animals, and, after a 
time, the Gauchos knew it was a one-eyed Condor 
who was doing the mischief by the way in which 

108 



THE CONDOR 

he held his head, and various other signs. So 
they kept a careful lookout for him, being de- 
termined to kill him. 

But Gawkes was a sly and cunning old rascal 
and was not to be caught easily, and in spite of 
their schemes it seemed for a time as though he 
were too old a bird to be caught at all. He knew 
men were easily frightened, and very often, 
when the Gauchos had laid a trap for him and 
were just waiting for him to come down, he 
would come down with a vengeance, beat his 
huge wings over their heads, try to peck at their 
eyes or head, and hiss all the time, and had it 
not been that these men knew the ways of 
Gawkes and his kind, and beat him off bravely, 
he would very soon have put an end to them. 

He found out all their little tricks and 
maneuvers, was suspicious when there was cause 
for suspicion, and instead of flying boldly down, 
as on some occasions, would keep carefully away 
whenever they had taken particular pains to try 
to induce him to get caught. 

Gawkes once was nearly caught himself, but 
109 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

not by men. His keen eyes saw a young animal 
lying nearly motionless one morning just before 
daybreak, and with a little awkward run and a 
few circles in the air, down swooped Gawkes 
right on the top of the animal, to find himself 
suddenly confronted by a Puma. 

The Puma had spent half the night tracking 
and getting the animal, and he was not at all 
inclined to give up his prize, especially to a 
Condor, and his sudden fierce onslaught with 
blazing eyes and extended claws quite startled 
Gawkes, and his inability to rise without having 
a little run first was nearly the cause of his 
death. For the Puma sprang with a catlike 
leap, and so nearly caught him that Gawkes 
actually lost a few of his tail-feathers. 

He could, had he only felt so inclined, have 
defended himself fairly well with his terrible 
beak and claws, but Gawkes did not care for 
Pumas or their savage ways, and was only too 
thankful when he found himself rising in the 
air, where he knew no Puma, however savage, 
could follow him. And the Puma spat out his 

no 



THE CONDOR 

tail-feathers in disgust and went back to the 
animal he had killed and had a delicious break- 
fast of fresh meat, while Gawkes hovered dis- 
consolately overhead, waiting patiently until 
the Puma took his departure so that he might 
have what was left. 

He was more careful after this adventure for a 
time, but he soon forgot the Puma, and, as the 
men did not succeed in catching him, he grew 
more bold than ever. And as Gawkes grew 
bolder, so the Gauchos got more cautious, until 
one fine day Gawkes was caught in a trap. 

Feeling rather hungry, he had swooped down 
to the plain, and, seeing a nice young calf, he de- 
termined to get him. For some reason or other, 
however, he was a little suspicious, and did not 
go direct to him at once. He could see that the 
calf was dying, and he decided to wait a little 
while, for he was not at all particular about his 
food in some ways. As a matter of fact, he liked 
carrion, it was much more to his taste than fresh 
meat, and had more of a flavor. 

So he waited patiently, always keeping his eye 
in 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

carefully on the calf and taking a good look all 
round now and then. But at last the poor lit- 
tle calf gave a pathetic gasp, and then lay per- 
fectly still. Now was the time. 

With a few awkward hops and skips, Gawkes 
ran forward, flew up into the air, circled grace- 
fully round a few times— the only time he could 
be graceful was when he was flying— and then 
pounced down on the calf's body. He had had 
two delicious morsels, young, juicy, and tender, 
when a curious noise— thrubadee— thrubadee— 
thrub— was heard, and the next moment, before 
he even knew there was an enemy near, some- 
thing flew over his head and round his neck, and 
gasping, struggling, and flapping violently with 
his huge wings, Gawkes, the Condor, was fight- 
ing for his breath and life. 

The Guachos had put the dying calf there pur- 
posely, knowing that some Condor— probably 
the one-eyed one— would be sure to find it out, 
and had been waiting, meanwhile, a little way 
off, with their lassos ready. The moment 
Gawkes had settled on the calf's body, they had 

112 



THE CONDOR 

set spurs to their horses, and one of the lassos, 
thrown with unerring aim, had settled neatly 
over his head and round his neck. 

Gawkes did not give up even then without a 
fearful struggle, and it needed great care to 
escape some hard knocks from those outspread, 
powerful wings, which beat and flapped fran- 
tically in that last struggle for life and freedom. 
But it was all up with Gawkes this time, and 
when his huge body sank limp and lifeless on the 
ground, the Gaucbos raised a shout of joy. 

And then they decided to have him mounted, 
for he was a splendid specimen, and keep him 
as a trophy, but they had only one eye put in 
his head to remind them of the reason they had 
been able to catch him. 

For, had Gawkes only had two eyes, there is 
every probability that he would have been able 
to see his enemies in time, for, naturally, they 
took care to gallop up on his blind side, which 
caused him to lose time. And this is why his 
playing with that bone up on the rocks was the 
silliest and most stupid thing Gawkes ever did. 

113 



THE LEMMING 



THE LEMMING 




N one of the mountains of the Scan- 
dinavian Peninsula, there lived one 
of the largest and most important 
colonies of Lemmings in all Nor- 
way. 
There were some thousands of these small, 
brownish-black animals, very like Marmots or 
Hamsters in appearance, with their rat-like 
snouts and faces, short, furry bodies about six 
inches long, and little tails measuring not more 
than an inch in length. They all had tiny ears 
and feet, but on the soles of their feet were short, 
thick hairs, which prevented their slipping 
about in frosty weather. 

Very important creatures these small animals 
considered themselves, but the most important 
was Leader, an abnormally large, strong Lem- 

117 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

mirig, who was noted for his fights, not only 
among his own kind, but even among the 
Humans, who sometimes invaded the colony. 

When these impertinent Humans were seen 
approaching, all the Lemmings would get wildly 
excited, sit up on their hind quarters, and squeak 
and grunt as though to dare them to come any 
nearer. But Leader and a few others would do 
more than this. They would squeak and grunt 
their hardest first of all— and they sounded just 
like Guinea-pigs when they did this — but if this 
had no effect, they would go over to the Humans 
and bite their trousers, or boots, and scratch 
them with their claws in the most vicious man- 
ner, and the worst of it was, that the Humans 
would generally laugh at it all, although they 
got some very bad bites and scratches at times, 
and, if the Lemmings did not go to their bur- 
rows, they would often get killed for being so 
impudent. 

This was one of the reasons that the Lem- 
mings always did their best to frighten all 
strangers away. They liked to keep their colony 

118 



THE LEMMING 

to themselves, but very often strangers came just 
the same and did them a lot of mischief. 

They had had a very quiet winter. Leader 
and his wife had built a nice large nest in their 
tunnel through the snow, with several other lit- 
tle tunnels leading to it, and when it was all 
ready and lined with dry grass and leaves woven 
with hair, five little Lemmings made their ap- 
pearance one day and filled it up. They looked 
just like naked little mice, but Leader and his 
wife thought a great deal of them, and worked 
extremely hard in feeding and looking after 
them. When summer came, the little Lemmings 
were able to find their own food, which con- 
sisted of reindeer moss, grass, the catkins of the 
birch-tree, and various kinds of roots. As soon 
as they were able to take care of themselves, 
Leader and his wife soon forgot all about them, 
and had a quiet and happy summer. 

It had been a very dry summer, and, although 
there had been a bountiful supply of food, es- 
pecially lichen, reeds, and so forth, towards the 
autumn everything began to have a tasteless, 

8— Wild Creatures Afield jjq 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

withered, and unsatisfying flavor, until at last 
there was very little food to be had at all. The 
colony had grown to be frightfully overcrowded, 
too, and, whether it was through all this, I do 
not know, but for some reason or other the 
Lemmings began to get restless and uneasy, and 
extremely disagreeable.* 

They were all sitting quietly one day — some 
at the entrance to their burrows, some inside, 
and others on any odd stumps or rocks —when 
suddenly Leader and some of the biggest and 
strongest of the Lemmings got so restless and 
excited that they scarcely seemed to know what 
they were doing. They rushed about, first to 
one place and then to another, sat up and 
squeaked and grunted in their fiercest manner, 
although not a stranger of any kind was to be 
seen, until they made such a noise that all the 
other Lemmings came out to see what all the fuss 
was about. 



*It is supposed that these peculiar migrations of the Lem- 
mings arise from a scarcity of food and overcrowding, but 
no definite conclusion seems to have been reached. — Author. 

1 20 



THE L E M MING 

It was wonderful where they all came from, 
for, before very long, every burrow, nook, stump 
and cranny seemed to pour out Lemmings by the 
thousand. In a very short time the earth seemed 
covered with a brownish mantle which moved 
incessantly, and squeaked and tussled in the 
most extraordinary manner. 

And all this time Leader and his big com- 
panions never once stopped their squeaking and 
grunting, but when every Lemming in the whole 
colony seemed to have come out, there was a lit- 
tle stillness, and then Leader and his fellows 
simultaneously led the way down the hill, and in 
a perfectly straight line across country. 

And suddenly all the Lemmings seemed to 
get half crazy, and to be possessed by some 
overwhelming instinct, for they knew now what 
they were going to do. They were all going to 
migrate, and a Lemming migrant doesn't care 
for anything or anybody. He gets so fierce and 
savage that he will attack anything, and if he is 
killed it doesn't much matter. There are some 
thousands coming after him, who are only too 

121 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

ready to take up the battle and come to the same 
end as himself. 

Leader had never felt so reckless in his life, 
and as he and his companions led the way they 
allowed nothing to stop them— nothing to make 
them even turn to one side. They took a 
straight line all through their long journey, and 
if a stack of hay or corn came in their way, they 
ate their way through it, and so caused untold 
damage. Nothing stopped their course unless 
it was a high rock, which was too smooth and 
perpendicular to be climbed, and they made 
their way through grass and corn-fields, leav- 
ing a terrible track of damage and desolation in 
their rear. 

The poor farmers were in despair. They 
knew only too well what a Lemming migration 
meant, and also knew that they were quite pow- 
erless to prevent it. Nothing could stop these 
animals once they had started on their journey. 
On they went, climbing hills and mountains, 
swimming lakes and rivers— for, although they 
avoided water at other times, they cared for 

122 



THE LEMMING 

nothing when migrating— and never resting ex- 
cept for a short time at night, when they gener- 
ally improved the occasion by eating up every- 
thing in the way of vegetation they could get 
hold of. 

Even the villages were not safe. On they 
went ; swarms upon swarms of these small dark 
animals, tearing along in their mad haste and 
coming to all sorts of untimely ends on the way, 
followed all the time by numbers of birds over- 
head, who waited patiently until some of the 
feebler animals died and then swooped down 
on their bodies. 

.\nd it was, perhaps, the villages that suf- 
fered most terribly. For, as they went on 
through the small towns, some of the Lemmings 
tumbled into wells and fountains, streams, and 
rivulets, and their dead bodies tainted the water, 
and the tainted water gave the poor villagers a 
terrible fever called "Lemming Fever/ ' from 
which they and their children died by hundreds. 

Very often it was unavoidable, for not a 
stream or well but what contained a few of these 

123 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

animals. It was generally only the worn-out 
and exhausted Lemmings who were drowned in 
this manner, but very often the wells would be 
too steep for any to climb out when once they 
had fallen in, and so they suffered the same 
fate as the others. 

The amount of damage and mischief done by 
these little animals when on these peculiar jour- 
neys is appalling, and it often takes years to get 
things straight again. Even the cattle suffer, 
for many refuse to eat any grass or herbage that 
has been walked over by a Lemming, so it was a 
terrible time. 

But Leader cared not. He and his compan- 
ions went on and on, and never seemed to notice 
that their numbers were gradually getting fewer 
and fewer. For now, in addition to the birds 
overhead, there were various four-footed 
enemies following them and on the watch for any 
breakdowns on the way. And what they didn't 
finish the birds overhead did, and what with this 
and some of the Lemmings dying from disease, 
large numbers were left behind, and had it not 

124 



THE LEMMING 

been for the animal scavengers, the pestilence 
they left in their trail would have been far more 
terrible than it was. 

Leader's wife had died long ago, but he did 
not even know it, and certainly did not care. 
All he and the big Lemmings thought about was 
getting on, on, on, and it was not until they had 
been over a year on their journey that they 
began to feel a little weary. But weariness did 
not stop them. Not a bit of it. 

They swept over the land just the same, and, 
as the migration had now become known, every- 
body watched their approach with terror and 
dismay. The men took all the precautions they 
could, while the women clasped their little ones 
to them and wondered whether they would die 
of the pestilence which was sure to follow ? 

And then one day Leader and all the other 
Lemmings, having climbed to the top of a hill, 
suddenly saw the sea lying below them, sparkling 
and glistening in the sunlight. And down the 
hill they went, helter-skelter, tumbling over 
one another in their wild haste, and never stop- 

125 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

ping until they had rushed headlong into the 
sea, where they were all drowned. And so 
Leader came to a miserable end after all. 

And why the Lemmings do this no one has 
ever yet been able to find out. Fortunately, a 
migration only occurs about once in ten or fifteen 
years, for which the farmers and villagers are 
only too thankful. Were it to take place more 
often, there would probably be neither farmers 
nor villagers, and the country would be in a 
terrible state indeed. 



126 



THE MONITOR 



THE MONITOR 




^ OR three long hours had Munchen, 
the Monitor, been waiting in vain 
for some unsuspecting small crea- 
ture to wander forth and near 
enough for him to catch and eat. 
He had been very patient for a time, lying 
with his scaly, dust-colored body on the rough, 
stony ground, reveling in the glaring sun. 
The only movements he made were with his 
curious eyes— sometimes dull and expression- 
less, at others, fiery, quick, and cruel— and with 
his long, black, and shiny tongue. This tongue 
was sp like a snake's, with its deep fork at the 
end, and the lightning-like rapidity with which 
it darted in and out, that, had only Munchen 's 
scaly lizard body been hidden, one would have 

129 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

thought the tongue belonged to some huge 
python. 

He had been longing for a nice fat frog all 
day, and, although he had found a whole nest- 
ful of eggs and eaten them early in the morn- 
ing, he was still hungry and longed for some- 
thing more. He had enjoyed himself by taking 
up each one in his mouth (they were crocodile's 
eggs and beautifully fresh), raising his head, 
and then cracking the shell with a squeeze of his 
jaws, and letting the contents run down his 
throat. 

He would have liked a few more, but he felt 
too lazy to exert himself, and he saw no signs of 
any near him. He was rather particular about 
his food, and never touched vegetables or green 
stufT of any kind ; he liked a meat diet, and was 
fond of any young animals, birds, frogs, or 
crabs, and the younger and more tender they 
were the better. 

But, for some reason or other, food seemed 
scarce on this particular day, and Munchen lay 
there lazily watching the crocodiles move in and 

130 



THE MONITOR 

out of the river Nile, while the African sun 
poured down, in a dazzling whiteness, so blind- 
ing in its effect that even a Monitor's eyes 
closed every now and then, as though unable 
to help it. 

Presently, however, a fine, full-grown frog 
hopped almost in front of Munchen 's very 
mouth, and, although such a heavy, sleepy-look- 
ing reptile a few minutes before, in an instant 
Munchen became one of the most active of all 
the Lizard tribe, and, with a final thrust of that 
long, black, shiny tongue, he made one quick 
movement— so quick that before the frog real- 
ized where he was, or the danger that threatened 
him, he had received a sharp, quick bite, and 
Munchen had swallowed the fat frog he had been 
longing for all day. 

But it did not give him as much pleasure as 
he expected, for in his hurry Munchen had not 
noticed that it was one of those horrid spur-toed 
frogs who are so silly as to have three sharp 
nails on each of their hind feet just like little 
spurs, and these little spur-like nails were any- 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

thing but comfortable when swallowed. In vain 
Munchen gulped and gulped, and shot his long 
tongue in and out— he could feel those sharp 
nails just the same, and it spoilt the pleasure 
of the meal. 

But at this moment something happened which 
made him forget all about the frog, and even 
about the frog's nails. This something was a 
small party of men moving in his direction. Now, 
Munchen disliked men and always avoided them 
when possible, so he promptly carried his body, 
with its long tail, short legs, and five-toed feet, 
to a nice crevice near by, where he hoped he 
should not be noticed. He laid himself flat 
against the rock —the color of which was very 
much the shade of his own body— and kept so 
still that had the men not seen him at first, they 
would probably not have noticed him at all. 

Unfortunately for Munchen, a Monitor was 
the very thing the men were looking for, and 
had been looking for, for some time, so they 
took care not to lose sight of it, and hurried 
up to the crevice as fast as they could. 

132 



THE MONITOR 

Munchen kept perfectly still and moved not 
a muscle, even keeping his tongue concealed in 
the sheath in his throat, although the quick- 
ened throbbing showed that he was troubled and 
frightened. At first the men were a little nerv- 
ous and kept at a safe distance, but when they 
saw how quiet and gentle the Monitor appeared, 
they became more venturesome and did their 
best to persuade him gently to leave the rock 
and turn round. 

But Munchen knew better. There were sev- 
eral little projections on the surface of the rock 
which Munchen grasped with his four five-toed 
feet with so strong a hold that it was in vain 
the men tried at last to move him by force. It 
was like trying to move the rock itself, and they 
retired after awhile, panting and breathless, and 
at a loss what to do next. They had no intention 
of giving him up, but they could not carry the 
rock away, and at present it appeared to be the 
only way of obtaining the Monitor. 

So they talked it over, and after awhile one 
man suggested that they should put ropes round 

J 33 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

his legs and pull him off that way. This was a 
good idea, but the difficulty was that they had no 
rope, so one man finally agreed to fetch one or 
two, while the others kept watch to see that the 
Monitor did not get away. 

But Munchen never attempted to get away ; he 
stayed just where he was, a quiet, inanimate 
figure clinging tightly to the rock, his head and 
body still and motionless, but his eyes keeping 
watch, and his full-looking throat gulping and 
throbbing painfully with excitement. The men 
never once took their eyes off him, except when 
they cast a casual glance at the crocodiles a little 
way below, some of whom were basking in the 
sun, looking like wooden logs, and others moving 
heavily and clumsily in and out the murky waters 
of the Nile. 

It was not long before the other man re- 
turned, and then all three men proceeded to 
carefully fasten some strong ropes round the 
hind and fore legs of Munchen, while Munchen 
kept perfectly still, although he was now only 
waiting his opportunity. 

134 




Wild Creatures Afield 

"ONE OF THEM WAS KNOCKED OVER LIKE A BALL 

135 



THE MONITOR 

"We shall very soon get him off now," one of 
the men said with an air of triumph, but he was 
mistaken. The ropes were strong and so were 
all three men, but when first one man had pulled 
and strained with all his might, and then an- 
other, and another, Munchen was still clinging 
to the rock and they were no farther on than 
before.* Munchen was getting angry now, but 
he was not going to give in, and so, even when 
two men pulled together and the ropes strained 
and squeaked, he tried his best to cling to the 
rock. 

But the strength of two full-grown, muscular 
men was too much even for a Monitor, and so it 
happened that at last Munchen felt himself leav- 
ing the rock, and, wild with fury, he turned 
round in his active way, and Monitors can be 
wonderfully quick when they feel inclined, flew 
at his captors and did his best to bite them, or 
strike them with his powerful tail. 



*The strength of Monitors is extraordinary. The above is 
a true incident. — Author. 

9— Wild Creatures Afield \%1 



THE GLUTTON 



THE GLUTTON 



!/\ NE bright, clear, frosty night, Graball 
"fl I the Glutton, sauntered forth to see 
*s£^T^ what he could find in the shape of 
v\5^ food. He was frightfully hungry, 
although he had had an enormous 
feed the night before, but he always had a 
ravenous appetite, and could eat just double the 
amount of food at a time of any other animal 
of his size, and was never happy unless he was 
gorging himself. 

As he walked clumsily and heavily along, all 
the little moles, rats, mice, voles, and insects who 
were not asleep, scuttled away in terror, while 
some of the little birds overhead fluttered about 
uneasily. They all knew the Glutton and 
dreaded him as one of their greatest enemies. 

143 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

But on this particular night, Graball was not 
thinking of them at all. He wanted something 
bigger, and knew where there were some traps 
which an Indian trapper was kind enough to set 
every night in order to catch some of the Glut- 
ton's favorite animals. Many a good feed had 
Graball had in this way, and many a time had 
that Indian trapper vowed he would one day 
catch the Glutton himself. But Graball cared 
not; he often sprung the very trap which had 
been specially baited for himself, took out the 
bait and ate it, and then quietly walked off again. 

He knew he was walking into danger on this 
particular night, but he was daring enough for 
anything. So he stumbled on in his clumsy way 
through the thick North American forest, climb- 
ing over rough shrubs and trees, stepping com- 
fortably over the frozen ground (for the bot- 
toms of his feet were covered with thick fur, 
which prevented his slipping), and even swim- 
ming streams where the ice was broken, for he 
allowed nothing to stand in his way when he 
wanted food. 

144 



THE GLUTTON 

When he arrived at the trapping-place he was 
delighted to find that all the traps were baited 
with large pieces of delicious fresh meat, and he 
at once proceeded to spring each one and then 
take out the bait and eat it. He had done this 
to three traps and then came to a fourth. But 
there was something about this fourth trap 
which made him suspicious. It looked all 
right, but in some curious manner Graball knew 
there was danger, and, instead of springing the 
trap in his usual manner, he sat down and 
looked at it. 

As he sat there an Indian, who had been 
watching him, silently crept forward and took 
careful aim. Another moment and Graball 
would have been killed, but at that very moment 
a rabbit ran straight over the trap, which closed 
sharply on one of his hind legs with a snap, and 
his shriek of agony startled the Indian and he 
missed his aim. When the smoke cleared away, 
there was neither Glutton nor rabbit to be seen, 
for Graball had taken advantage of that mo- 
ment, dragged the poor little rabbit out of the 

*45 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

trap and made off so swiftly through the thick 
wood that it was in vain the Indian hunted in 
all directions. 

The Indian made a little guttural noise, but 
beyond that he did not seem to be put out, al- 
though it was the first time he had missed his 
aim for many years. He meant to have that 
Glutton some time, and he thought of a novel 
plan which he intended to try the next time there 
was snow. 

Meantime, Graball had eaten a most dainty 
meal, which would have been perfect had there 
been more of it, but one rabbit was not very 
much for a Glutton, so he proceeded to dig up 
some nice little stores which a careful and eco- 
nomical weasel had stored up in what he thought 
was a beautiful hiding-place. But a Glutton has 
wonderful powers of finding out these hiding 
places, and has no scruples about rifling them, 
so Graball ate all the weasel's stores, which hap- 
pened to be the remains of some young animals, 
and then felt he had done a good night's work. 

Having had such a good supper, Graball did 
146 



THE GLUTTON 

not trouble about looking for any more food that 
night, but on his way home he came upon a 
funny-looking little wooden hut, and, seeing 
that it was empty, and always being ready for 
mischief, Graball wandered in and looked round. 

There was a rough bed in one corner, some 
pots and pans in another, evidently used for 
cooking, and a big strong ax— such as wood- 
cutters use— in a third. Graball had no use for 
pots or pans, or indeed anything in the hut, but, 
true to his name, he grabbed one or two of the 
cooking utensils, and, dragging them outside the 
hut and into a shady part of the forest, he buried 
them deep down in the earth so that the owner 
would not be likely to find them again. 

Then— for he dearly loved stealing things, no 
matter how useless they were to him— he went 
back to the hut to get some other things. The 
rough blanket on the bed was the next thing he 
decided to take, and, although it was rather diffi- 
cult to carry, as it would keep getting under his 
feet and kept tripping him up, he held on to it 
with his strong teeth, and when he had buried 

H7 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

that— which gave him a lot of trouble— he went 
back to the hut the third time. 

For Graball thought he had found a prize. 
As he was going out of the hut with the blanket, 
the firelight caught the sharp, glistening edge of 
the ax in the other corner, and Graball de- 
termined to get that at any price. So this time 
he wandered back in his heavy, clumsy way a 
little more quickly, for he was longing to get to 
sleep, but sleep was not to be thought of until he 
had got that beautiful thing in the corner. He 
caught hold of the blunt part of the ax first, 
but he did not like the cold feel of the steel, 
and then grasped it by the wooden handle 
instead. 

This was much better, and, thinking nothing of 
the weight, Graball stumbled towards the door 
with his treasure. But whether the sound of a 
man's footsteps outside crunching the frosty 
ground made him nervous, or whether it was the 
rough, uneven stones which made him stumble, 
he never knew, but suddenly he had an awful 
fall, he felt a sharp, keen pain, and it was as 

148 



THE GLUTTON 

much as he could do to drop his beautiful prize 
and get away before the owner caught him. 

He left a trail of blood behind him, for he had 
been badly cut, and in this way the owner of 
the hut, who was the very Indian who had tried 
to catch him, found out where he lived and lay 
in wait for him. But it was some time before 
Graball left his burrow again, for he was very, 
very sick for a long while, and did not care even 
to eat very much. And at last the Indian came 
to the conclusion that he had died in his burrow 
and went away overjoyed to think the robber of 
his traps was dead. 

But Graball was not dead, nor did he die of 
this wound. He got better after awhile and 
was more morose and sullen than ever, but he 
made the most of his time when he could not go 
out by staying just at the mouth of his burrow 
and watching all the smaller animals go by. It 
made him mad to think he could not run after 
them just then, but he made some fine discov- 
eries by all this watching. 

He found out there was a fine young fox living 
149 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

close by; plenty of mice and rats, who had been 
so foolish as to make their burrows close to his; 
and several kinds of reptiles which were easy to 
catch. So he contented himself with catching 
the smaller animals until he was quite well again, 
and then he began to think about the fox. 

His long rest and seclusion seemed to have 
made him stronger than ever, and, although he 
still felt a little stiffness in the place where the 
ax had so badly cut him, he was every bit as 
vicious and active as before. So one night, feel- 
ing better and stronger than ever; Graball de- 
termined to dig that fox out of his burrow and 
make a nice supper off him. 

He had nearly reached the fox's lair, when he 
suddenly met the fox himself, and, had it not 
been that Graball was lazy, he would have run 
after him, for he could be wonderfully quick 
when he liked. But he did not feel inclined for 
running just then, so he resorted to his natural 
sagacity and cunning, and, pretending not to see 
the fox, shambled off in another direction, limp- 
ing painfully all the way. 

150 



THE GLUTTON 

The fox was cunning, too, and, as he knew the 
enormous strength a Glutton possessed, he 
thought it wiser to avoid him, although he was 
lame, so he, too, turned oft* in another direction 
and took no notice of Graball, who now wended 
his way to another burrow. 

Now it happened that this other burrow was 
where the fox's wife and family had just made 
their home, their last quarters not having been 
big enough for a family. It was the deserted 
lair of an old bear, and was nice and roomy, and 
here they had all taken up their residence only 
a few days before. And as Mr. Fox wended his 
way homewards, Graball also made his way to 
the same spot, getting there a little while before 
the fox. By the time the fox arrived home, 
Graball had, with his short-pointed muzzle and 
broad, rounded head, burrowed so far into the 
earth that only just the end of his short, bushy 
tail was visible. 

The fox looked at it quizzically for a few min- 
utes with his head on one side, and his tail 
waving gently to and fro. He knew perfectly 

15* 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

well that Graball was trying to get at his wife 
and little ones, and, frightened and shy as he 
was of Gluttons, he grew daring now, especially 
when he concluded that this was the lame Glutton 
he had met only a short time before. So, 
after another moment's hesitation, he suddenly 
caught hold of that hateful tail with his sharp 
teeth, and bit it again and again with all his 
might. 

Graball was frightened and astonished, and 
growled with rage and pain, but the fox held on 
and gave sharp, snapping bites at that tail until 
he grew too excited to notice that Graball was 
coming out backwards. Another moment and 
the tables were turned. 

There was a shower of loose earth— a vicious, 
angry growl — and, before the fox knew where 
he was, Graball had him by the throat, and, fight 
and struggle as he would and did, the fox was no 
match for a Glutton. Graball was mad to think 
that a fox should dare to bite him, and by the tail, 
too, and this, added to his strength, caused him 
to make very short work of the fox. In a very 

J 52 




Wild Creatures Afield 

"GRABALL HAD HIM BY THE THROAT 

153 



THE GLUTTON 

little while the fox lay dead and limp on 
the ground, and Graball then promptly pro- 
ceeded to eat him, and a very delicious meal he 
made. 

He would probably have eaten the fox's wife 
and little cubs, too, but, as he never took more 
trouble than he could help, he remembered the 
Indian trapper's baits, and decided to make 
another visit to the traps. 

Now, ever since Graball had been cut in the 
hut, the Indian had never once lost his bait. So, 
when one night he found that all the traps had 
been sprung again,* and all the bait stolen, he 
thought it was some other Glutton who had 
found out his trapping-place. He knew it was a 
Glutton by the clever way in which the traps had 
been sprung, and various other signs, especially 
the unpleasant odor which Graball had left 
behind him, and which always kept all other 



* The Glutton is more clever and sly at springing traps 
than even a fox. In some incomprehensible manner, he will 
not only spring a lightly-set trap without harm to himself, 
but steal the bait and walk off with it. — Author. 



10— Wild Creatures Afield 



55 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

animals away from the spot; and, as he had a 
grudge against Gluttons, he was determined to 
catch him. 

Fortunately, it had been snowing heavily, and 
the Indian, carefully baiting one of his best and 
strongest traps, buried it so deeply in the snow 
that one would have thought no animal would 
ever have been able to find out its where- 
abouts. 

But Graball found it out. His wonderfully 
keen nose soon discovered that some fresh meat 
was hidden in the snow, and, feeling sure that it 
had been put there so that he should not get it, 
he determined to dig it out no matter how long 
it took him, or how much trouble it was. 

So, with angry growls, he set to work, using 
his strong paws and sharp claws with all his 
might ; and, although the trap and bait had been 
buried nearly six feet deep, he soon got at them, 
and with a savage noise, something between a 
growl and a cough, he promptly caught hold of 
the meat. But he had made a mistake this time. 
For as he seized it, something tight and cold 

*5 6 



THE GLUTTON 

closed round his neck, and, with his teeth still 
tightly fastened in the meat, Graball was 
choked, and in a very few minutes was quite 
dead. 

And the Indian was so delighted when he 
found him, that he gave a ' ' whoop ! ' ' that fright- 
ened all the animals, birds, and insects in the 
neighborhood. For, as he turned him over, he 
noticed the scar where the ax had cut him, and 
then knew that it was his old enemy who had 
stolen his bait, and worried and baffled him for 
such a long time. 

And so he kept his skin and dressed it, and 
seemed to find a supreme satisfaction in treading 
on it every time he entered his hut, the very hut 
where Graball had thought himself so clever in 
stealing and hiding the Indian's things. 

And although he never, from that day to this, 
found any of the things which Graball stole and 
hid so cunningly and deeply in the ground, the 
Indian did not mind a bit. He easily got 
more blankets and pots and pans, but he had 
no more bait stolen, and no more traps sprung, 

*57 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

and so did a good and thriving trade and was 
as happy and cheerful as it is possible for an 
Indian to be. 



153 



THE BROWN PELICAN 



THE BROWN PELICAN 




N a small island in the Indian River, 
in Florida, called Pelican Island, 
three little baby Pelicans one day 
kicked off the remains of their shell 
houses, and displayed their little 
naked, black bodies to the full glare of daylight. 

They were very ugly and very feeble, but they 
opened their wide, big mouths and asked as 
plainly as they could for something to eat, for 
they were very hungry indeed. The old Mother 
Pelican looked at them proudly, for these were 
the first babies she had ever had, and she con- 
sidered that they were finer and stronger than 
any she had ever seen before. But she knew 
what they wanted, so, lifting her big, brownish- 
gray body from the nest, she flew off, joining a 
flock of other Pelicans who were going to feed. 

161 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Away they flew, one bird behind the other, 
flapping their wings several times all together, 
then sailing smoothly along for a little while, 
with their necks bent back over their bodies, and 
then flapping their wings together again as 
though at a given signal. So they went on until 
they reached the feeding-ground, and then they 
hovered about on the watch for fish. 

The Mother Pelican kept a sharper lookout 
than usual, for she had four mouths to feed now 
instead of one. In a few moments her sharp 
eyes saw some nice little fish near the top of the 
water, and, swooping down in an instant, she 
skimmed along the surface with her under bill 
formed into a beautiful scoop, and, having put 
the fish into her throat for safety, she flew back 
to her young ones again. 

And, oh! what excitement there was! The 
little black bodies looked all mouths for a mo- 
ment, but they soon took the fish from their 
mother's pouch,* and when they had had a good 



*There is an old fable which states that the Pelican feeds 
l62 



THE BROWN PELICAN 

feed, thy settled themselves down for a nice 
sleep under their mother's wings. They were 
all very good little birds, but the biggest of them, 
Brownie, was too restless for a nest built in a 
mangrove tree, and made the others uncomfort- 
able. But he was not only careless, he was 
clumsy; his webbed feet, with their turned-in 
toes, always seemed to be tumbling over one 
another, and one day, when he was wobbling 
round as usual, he lost his balance and fell out 
of the nest. 

Their black bodies were covered with a white 
down by this time, and their wing-feathers were 
just beginning to grow, but, alas! these wing- 
feathers had not grown big enough to be of any 
use in flying yet, and so down and down poor 
little Brownie went, only stopping at the bot- 
tom, and then lying quite still. 

His two brothers, Quinks and Quirks, stretched 
their necks out of the nest, and then looked at 



her offspring from the blood of her own breast, and it is, no 
doubt, from this action that it originated. — Author. 

^3 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

one another in a frightened, bewildered manner. 
They would have liked to go and fetch him, but 
at this moment their mother returned from fish- 
ing, and their brother and everything else was 
forgotten in their eagerness to have something 
to eat, for Pelicans are always hungry and have 
enormous appetites. 

Now, Quirks had one great failing; he was 
very greedy, and although he was very fond 
of his brothers, he always did his very utmost 
to get the best and biggest fish for him- 
self. But Quinks was specially hungry just 
then, too, and so, as the Mother Pelican settled 
on the nest, they both stood up, stretched to their 
full height, their necks craned out, mouths 
ready, creamy little toes turned well in, and 
their funny little stubbly wings stretched to their 
fullest extent. 

"With a little gulp their mother brought the 
fish from her throat to her pouch in her under 
bill, and then how the little ones scrambled and 
fought, and what a lot they ate! There was 
plenty for three, but they managed it all between 

164 



THE BROWN PELICAN 

them, and Quinks, knowing Quirks' greediness, 
determined this time to have a good feed him- 
self. But he was too eager, for, while he was 
fishing in his mother's pouch, he found an un- 
usually big fish which only a grown-up Pelican 
could swallow, and so eager was he to get it down 
before Quirks could get it, that it stuck in his 
throat and choked him. 

In vain he struggled and gasped, while his 
mother and brother looked on, powerless to help 
him. In a few moments his little white body, 
with its creamy legs and feet, and curious gray 
bill wide open with part of the fish hanging out, 
was lying as limp and helpless in the nest as 
his brother's was below. 

His mother was puzzled and disturbed for 
awhile, and looked at him curiously, while Quirks 
couldn't understand why Quinks wouldn't 
answer when he was spoken to, but they 
couldn't have a dead body in the nest, so after 
awhile, after gravely considering the situation 
with their heads on one side, they kicked him 
out, and then Quirks had it all to himself. 

165 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

And this was partly the reason Quirks grew to 
be such an exceptionally large and strong bird. 
His mother always brought enough fish for 
three, but Quirks always managed the whole lot 
himself, and, although at times it made his crop 
very full and gave him an uncomfortable feel- 
ing, he flourished on it, and, by the time his 
mother taught him to fly, he was stronger than 
she was and quite as big. 

But they had some fine times together. They 
went into water deep enough to swim in, but 
not so deep that they could not touch the bottom 
when swimming with their heads below the sur- 
face of the water. One day they joined all the 
other Pelicans on a grand fishing expedition. 

They had found a beautiful piece of water, 
not too deep, and not too shallow. Each bird 
stationed himself below the water about a yard 
away from his neighbor, in the form of a 
horseshoe. They started in this way from one 
bank, and fished across in a regular and sys- 
tematic manner to the bank on the opposite side, 
and as the poor fish had very little chance to 

1 66 



THE BROWN PELICAN 

escape when the Pelicans fished in this way, the 
birds had fine sport and a splendid feed. 

By the time they arrived on the other side 
Quirks had gorged himself to such an extent 
that he could scarcely waddle up the bank with 
the others. But he did it somehow, and then he 
pretended to be quite grown-up and did every- 
thing he saw the other Pelicans do. He preened 
and dressed his feathers, opened his huge mouth, 
every now and then, which seemed to be the 
proper thing to do after such a big feed, squatted 
down on his legs and shut his eyes sleepily until 
his big meal had digested a little, and finally 
settled himself down comfortably and had a 
most delicious sleep with the others. 

When he woke up, he found all the other Peli- 
cans wide awake, and preening themselves again. 
So he rose slowly and did as they did. When 
all their feathers had been thoroughly dried, 
dressed, and attended to, the Pelicans opened 
their mouths again, exercised their wings and 
legs, and then began to look about. 

Then, as with one accord, the Pelicans moved 
167 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

down to the water once more, only this time, 
instead of forming a horse shoe, they went in a 
straight line, and they got nearly as many fish 
in this way as in the other. 

By the time Quirks had been fishing for some 
time in this way he began to feel quite grown- 
up, although he did eat a crawfish one day just 
as an experiment. It did not hurt him, but it 
was uncomfortable, and for the furture he left 
them alone. 

So it was not much wonder that Quirks grew 
to be such a strong and healthy bird. Certainly 
he was not particularly handsome, but in spite 
of his bulk and clumsy form, he was wonderfully 
active when flying, and was soon able to fly as 
fast as the oldest and strongest Pelican in the 
flock. He was able to keep up with the strong- 
est, too, and would fly for miles without showing 
the least sign of fatigue. 

When he was full-grown he was the leader of 
one of the finest flocks in Florida, and his big 
brown body, with its strong muscular wings, 
would be seen leading the way to the best feed- 

168 



THE BROWN PELICAN 

ing-places, all the other Pelicans flying one 
behind the other, and forming a diagonal line 
which looked just like a string of birds hung in 
the air. 



169 



THE PUMA 



11- Wild Creatures Afiela 



THE PUMA 




was a glorious day for a romp— 
bright and sunny, rather too hot for 
some of the inhabitants of the forest, 
who did their best to forget the heat 
by sleeping in the shade, but with 
just enough gentle breeze to make the luxuriant 
leaves and foliage move and rustle a little in 
the South American jungle, which was delight- 
ful in many ways. 

This is what Patterfoot, the Puma, thought, 
as he lay on his tawny back, with the whitish 
underpart of his body, his four soft, velvety- 
looking feet, and his furry nose, with its bright, 
keen eyes, black spotted nose, and flesh-colored 
nostrils, turned up toward the trees. The day 
seemed to have been made for him, and he en- 
joyed himself thoroughly. 

1 73 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

What could be more delightful than to lie 
there in the soft, comfortable undergrowth, wav- 
ing his tail expectantly, and wait until the breeze 
made the leaves just over his head quiver and 
shimmer in the sunshine? The sun was a little 
bright, even for him, but, as the leaves moved, 
out would go first one soft paw and then the 
other, and, with delicate little pats, he would 
touch the leaves tenderly, as though with a 
caress, and then with a sudden, light bound pre- 
tend to be startled and jump away, only to lie 
down again with a soft guttural purr, and begin 
it all over again. 

Patterf oot was a very kitten at heart, playful 
and gentle, and full of mischief as he could be, 
but just as happy as the day was bright and long. 
He was not quite grown-up yet, and could even 
remember his mother a little. She was a digni- 
fied Puma, who, although she had occasionally 
allowed herself to play with her little one, al- 
ways did it in a solemn manner, as though 
anxious to show him that she only did it for his 
sake. She had brought him up very well, and 

174 



THE PUMA 

then, getting a little tired of the arduous duties 
of motherhood, had finally left him to take care 
of himself. 

And Patterfoot had done it extremely well 
up to this time. He had a happy nature, but 
when it was necessary he could be as fierce and 
dangerous as any other Puma in the whole of 
South America. If he fancied any particular 
kind of food, he took care to get that food no 
matter how much it cost him, or what danger he 
had to face to get it. 

He was particularly fond of horse-flesh, and 
had wrought such terrible havoc among the 
young colts in a neighboring corral, that the 
owners had long ago vowed to kill him. But 
this was easier said than done. Patterfoot, 
daring and fearless as he was, did not believe in 
running unnecessary risks, and when he thought 
there was any special danger in one part, he 
generally considered that it would be wiser to 
go to another part of the country for the time 
being, or that a change of diet would be good 
for him. 

175 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

And up to this day, when he lay playing with 
the leaves, his enemies had never even been able 
to catch so much as a glimpse of him, although 
they knew perfectly well that it was a Puma who 
was doing all the mischief, and that it lived 
quite close by in one of the forests. 

But on this particular day, when Patterfoot 
was having such a good time, a man crept softly 
through the bushes, and, carefully parting the 
thick growth, peered cautiously through and 
stood looking at the lithe, tawny body of the 
Puma, and wondering whether he would be able 
to fetch his gun. The difficulty would be to find 
the same spot again, for all parts of the forest 
were much alike, and in all probability the Puma 
would have gone by the time he returned. So, 
creeping quietly off, he left Patterfoot still 
playing with the leaves and unconscious that 
an enemy had even been near him. 

Now the man who had seen the Puma was 
the owner of the corral where Patterfoot had 
made such terrible havoc among the colts, and 
he was determined to get him in some way 

176 



THE PUMA 

or another, and after this Patterfoot had some 
very narrow escapes. He was nearly caught in 
a trap one night, wounded and nearly killed by 
a shot another time, and actually set upon by 
dogs quite unexpectedly one day when he was 
lazily stretching himself. 

Like all Pumas, Patterfoot hated dogs of all 
kinds. He was gentle and good-natured as a 
rule, and never attempted to hurt a human 
being on any consideration,* but the very 
sight of a dog nearly drove him mad. From a 
soft, gentle-looking creature he would suddenly 
become a furious, savage animal. His eyes 
would flash and gleam like balls of fire, his hair 
bristle and stand erect, while the wild paroxysm 
of rage into which he would instantly fly would 
make his whole body tremble and quiver from 
head to foot. His soft, tender-looking mouth 
would suddenly reveal cruel teeth with the lips 
drawn tightly back over them, and from his open 

^According to some of the best authorities, the South Ameri- 
can Puma will never attack or molest men, women, or children, 
even when asleep. — Author. 

177 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

mouth would issue forth angry snarls and heavy, 
hoarse breaths, while now and again he would 
spit in the most vicious manner, and behave so 
savagely and outrageously that it was almost 
impossible to realize that he could be the same 
harmless-looking creature of only a few min- 
utes before. 

So that, when the dogs, who had seen the quiet, 
gentle-looking cat lying so calmly half asleep, 
were suddenly confronted by a wild-eyed, sav- 
age creature, half mad with uncontrollable pas- 
sion, they suddenly turned with howls of terror 
and tails down, and made the best of their way 
home again. But a great many of them did not 
reach home. For, with light, wonderfully quick 
springs, Patterfoot struck one after another of 
them, knocking some of them head over heels, 
and dislocating the necks of a few more with 
a pat from his soft-looking paws. 

And the only effects he received himself from 
this terrible onslaught were just a few scratches, 
which he licked at his leisure, with gleaming 
eyes and savage growls. For he could not even 

i 7 8 



THE PUMA 

think of a dog without getting angry. He hated 
them furiously, one and all, and would have 
liked to have killed a few more. 

But after this the owner of the corral kept 
quiet. He had gone to a great deal of expense, 
had lost some of his most valuable dogs, and 
was no nearer catching or killing the Puma than 
before. So he decided to let things rest for a 
time, and so induce the Puma to go in and out 
of the corral again, and then watch his oppor- 
tunity. 

But Patterfoot was just as deep and crafty as 
the corral owner. He knew perfectly well in 
some curious instinctive manner that there was 
danger in the corral at that time, and so he 
kept away from it and contented himself with 
other food for the time being. 

He lay in wait for deer, hiding his long, lithe, 
supple body in the thick grasses and under- 
growth, and then, when the gentle creatures went 
down at dusk to drink, glancing timidly in all 
directions with their beautiful eyes, he would 
spring on them so suddenly that very often they 

179 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

would die even before reaching the ground.* 
He was extremely fastidious about deer-flesh, 
and, as he only ate the breasts, he was obliged to 
kill a great many. 

But he did not mind that, for to this wild 
creature of the woods it was one of the most 
natural things to do. It was his one way of 
obtaining fresh food and the only way, and 
very often he killed a great many more than 
he wanted, simply for the pleasure of capture 
and the exercise. 

After a time he grew tired of deer-flesh, and 
then he had another change of diet. He liked a 
nice young wild turkey for a change, and en- 
joyed catching him. Some of the turkeys were 
extremely stupid, and, even when Patterfoot 
would give them a little warning by rustling the 
branches or bushes, they would stop just where 
they were, stretch their necks to their fullest 
extent, and gobble at the top of their voices. 



*Pumas occasionally dislocate the neck of an animal at one 
blow. — Author. 

1 80 



THE PUMA 

This would happen several times, and then 
Patterfoot would get tired, and just when the 
turkeys thought it was a false alarm and there 
was nothing to worry about, he would gather 
himself together, his eyes would gleam, his pink 
nostrils open and shut once or twice, and then 
there would be a sudden leap, a hoarse cry from 
one of the birds, terrible screams and gobblings 
from the others as they flew wildly in all direc- 
tions, and then Patterfoot would be on the 
ground, his ears laid well back, his cruel eyes 
half closed, and the tense muscles in his forelegs 
showing the powerful and tenacious grip he had 
on the turkey. 

And sometimes after this he would play with 
the turkey very much in the same way in which 
a cat plays with a mouse— for he was nothing 
but a big cat after all — and, pretending to let it 
go, suddenly spring on it again with a growl, and 
this would go on until the bird was dead, and 
then Patterfoot would proceed to eat it quietly 
and comfortably. 

There was only one drawback to a turkey and 
1S1 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

that was its feathers. Patterfoot did not like 
feathers, and yet, like the cat, he was very fond 
of creatures on which the feathers grew ; so he 
made the best of it, and, by sniffing a great deal 
and shaking his head, managed to get rid of a 
great many of them. 

But there were other things besides turkeys 
and deer. There were sheep, of which Patter- 
foot was extremely fond. Indeed, he would often 
leave calves and colts to get a nice bit of mutton 
for supper. But to get sheep he had to go 
to the same place where the corral was, and 
so it happened that one evening when he 
was tired of deer and turkeys he made up 
his mind to try and get a nice young sheep 
again. 

He was cunning enough to know that the 
danger was less now that he had not been seen 
for so long, but he went to work very cautiously, 
and, one evening when the twilight was creeping 
over the earth, Patterfoot crept noiselessly and 
stealthily towards the corral, scarcely moving 
a twig or branch on his way, and slid into one 

182 



THE P U M A 

of the sheep-pens so silently that even the sheep, 
who generally were very quick in knowing the 
nearness of a Puma, did not realize his presence 
for a few seconds. 

But they very soon found it out. And then 
the poor things, half wild with terror, bleated 
painfully, tore round and round the pens and 
struggled frantically to get away. As a rule, 
Patterfoot did not give them time to struggle 
much, for he made quick work of killing them, 
but on this occasion something else attracted his 
attention, and this something was a little boy 
who was amusing himself by patting the sheep 
and lambs, and talking to them in his baby 
fashion. 

He was a fine little fellow about five years 
old, and was the son of the owner of the corral. 
As the sheep suddenly scuttled about, he looked 
round to see what had caused the disturbance, 
and saw what he thought was a beautiful big 
cat. Utterly fearless, he left the sheep and, go- 
ing over to the Puma, put his small hand on the 
handsome head and patted it caressingly, talking 

183 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

to him in the same way in which he had been 
talking to the sheep. 

And, in some strange way, Patterfoot forgot 
the sheep and his supper, and purred and rubbed 
himself against the child with every evidence of 
delight. 

Indeed, it would have been difficult to tell 
which was the most pleased, the child or the 
Puma. So fearless, in his ignorance, was the 
boy, that he put his arms round the Puma's neck 
and kissed him, calling him his "dear Pussy," 
his "nice Pussy," and so forth, and Patter- 
foot appeared to quite appreciate the nice 
things that were said to him, and purred with all 
his might. 

And when the owner of the corral appeared 
upon the scene, gun in hand, he saw, to his hor- 
ror, a fine nearly full-grown Puma, rolling over 
and over on the ground, patting the air play- 
fully with his paws, while his little son stood by, 
laughing gayly, and occasionally patting the 
Puma in return. 

For a few seconds the poor father grew sick 
184 



THE PUMA 

and giddy with fear. He dared not shoot; he 
was quite as likely to kill his little son as the 
Puma. To go away might be to leave the child 
to a terrible fate; to stay where he was might 
frighten the Puma and cause him to suddenly 
kill the child. 

But, after a few minutes ' consideration, the 
owner decided to slip quietly off and get a long 
rope or lasso and try to catch the Puma in that 
way. Fortunately, Patterfoot and the boy were 
so taken up with their own pleasure that they 
did not notice either the coming or going of the 
man, and so, as he moved cautiously off, the 
patting game went on as before. 

Half blind with fear and terrible forebodings 
of what might happen to his little son during 
his absence, the poor man stumbled back to his 
house, and, getting some of his men to follow 
him at a little distance, crept cautiously back 
to the sheep-pen again with the lasso coiled 
ready in his hand. 

It was with intense thankfulness that he saw 
the two strange companions were still playing. 

185 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

But when lie came to try to put his plan in effect 
he found it was more difficult than he had im- 
agined. There seemed to be no way of catching 
the Puma without also catching the child, which 
would be fatal. But presently, for some reason 
or other, Patterf oot sprang lightly some distance 
away, and then there was a grand opportunity. 

Instantly, for there was no time to be lost, the 
coil of rope whizzed through the air, and the 
next moment Patterfoot, to his intense surprise, 
was unable to move. The rope had been well 
aimed, and as it slid over the Puma's slim, lithe 
body, it suddenly tightened in such a manner 
that his forelegs were bound tightly to his 
body. He made a frantic resistance for a few 
seconds and then lay quite still, looking wonder- 
ingly at his captor, and then at the child, who 
had run up. 

As soon as the other men had come up and 
helped to make the Puma fast, the father caught 
up his child and kissed him hungrily, while poor 
Patterfoot looked on meekly. 

Presently the men proceeded to tie him to a 
1 86 



THE PUMA 

tree in order to shoot hiin. Then suddenly, 
without the least warning, Patterfoet gave one 
of his awful screams — so shrill, weird, and 
piercing, that the very hearts of the men stood 
still. The only one who seemed to realize his 
feelings was the little boy, who rushed away 
from his father, and, running towards the Puma 
with outstretched arms, begged the men not 
to hurt his "dear Pussy,' ' his "nice, pretty 
Pussy ! ' ' 

And, in some curious way, Patterfoot seemed 
quite to understand what he was saying, for he 
began to shiver and tremble all over and whined 
in the most pitiful manner. As the child went 
on begging the men not to hurt it, Patterfoot *s 
eyes filled with tears,* and he looked so meekly 
pathetic that, what with the cries and entreaties 
of his little son, and the Puma's patient, unre- 
sisting attitude, the owner of the corral had not 
the heart to hurt him, and ordered the men to 



*An actual fact, vouched for by one of the highest authori- 
ties. — Author. 



IX— mid Creatures Afield 



187 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

wait until lie had taken the child to the house, 
and then to let the Puma go. 

And although the men argued and reasoned 
at the folly of it, the corral-owner would not give 
in, and so Patterfoot's life was saved, and he was 
allowed to go free. After this he was allowed 
to go where he pleased without being molested, 
for the owner would not have him touched or 
harmed in any way, but he was extremely care- 
ful to keep his little son out of the way. 

And there came a day when he was indeed 
thankful that he had given the Puma his life. 

Many months afterwards, when the incident 
was half forgotten, the little boy was on the lawn 
just outside the house, when suddenly a large, 
stealthy animal crept through the shrubs sur- 
rounding the lawn, and with a light spring 
bounded forward and rubbed his head caress- 
ingly against the child. 

With a little cry of joy, the boy recognized 
his ' i dear Pussy, ' ■ and they were soon as happy 
as when they first met in the sheeep-pen. But 
this time Patterfoot did all he could to induce 

18.8 



THE PUMA 

the child to follow him. He would bound for- 
ward aud then look back, and the boy, in his 
pleasure at finding his friend again, forgot his 
promise not to go away, and little by little 
wandered off with the Puma into the woods. 

What a fine time they had! Patterfoot 
scampering along, purring loudly, rolling over 
and over, springing up, bounding off, rolling 
over again, and then running back to rub him- 
self against the child and purr more loudly than 
ever; and the child, delighted with it all, run- 
ning along on his sturdy limbs, laughing, chat- 
ting, and talking to his "dear Pussy' ' about 
everything he could think of. 

And in the midst of all this there suddenly 
appeared another long, lithe body, with a head 
like Patterfoot 's in some respects, but with cruel, 
relentless eyes, and a snarling, hissing mouth. 
His body was covered with dark, velvety spots in 
the form of rosettes, and he had the same sort of 
velvety-looking paws that Patterfoot had, but 
the sharp claws were being drawn in and out as 
though in anticipation of a coming battle. 

189 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

And the battle came quicker than the new- 
comer expected, for, at the first glimpse of the 
Jaguar, Patterfoot's gentleness disappeared, 
and, with a savage growl, so throaty and hoarse 
that it was difficult to believe that Patterf oot had 
uttered it, the Puma sprang, and a most terrible 
fight followed. There was no doubt that Patter- 
foot was thinking of protecting his little friend,* 
for he did his best to keep the Jaguar away 
from him, and grew more savage and wild 
each time the Jaguar tried to get nearer to the 
boy. 

All Patterf oot J s relations had always been 
called cowards, and he himself had been called 
so when he had trembled and cried the day they 
were going to kill him. But there was no cow- 
ardice about him now, and he did what very few 
wild animals cared to do — dare, defy, and fight 
a Jaguar. He would not give in, either, and it 
was not until he had been terribly torn and 



*Pumas have been known to protect children in this way 
occasionally .—Author. 

190 



THE PUMA 

wounded, and the Jaguar was dying, that he 
once let go his hold. 

And then he found that his little friend had 
disappeared. Poor little fellow, frightened and 
bewildered at the terrible battle between the 
animals, he had turned back again, and, being 
quite close to his home, had been fortunate 
enough to go in the right direction, and so got 
back safely. His story was not credited until 
the men found the body of a dead Jaguar and 
saw a Puma overhead washing his wounds, and 
looking calmly down at them. 

But they did not hurt him, and he seemed 
quite to understand that they would not do so, 
for he did not attempt to go away, neither did 
he cry or whimper as before. And this episode 
was such a lesson to the child that for a long 
time nothing would induce him to go anywhere 
away from the house, although he was always on 
the lookout for his ' l dear Pussy. ' f 

And Patterf oot did not forget him. He often 
peeped at him from a distance and looked at 
him proudly, and although in most cases the 

191 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

child did not see him, the Puma would put out 
his paw playfully, as though begging that they 
might have a nice little game as they used to. 
But the child was too carefully guarded from 
that time for there to be any more chances of 
those little games, and meanwhile Patterfoot 
consoled himself by visiting the corral regu- 
larly, picking out the best and finest young colts, 
and having a good time generally at the owner *s 
expense. 

And all the owner could be induced to do to- 
wards the protection of his cattle was to keep 
them as well protected in the corrals and pens 
as possible, and to shut up all the young things 
he possibly could. But he gave strict orders 
that no Puma was ever to be killed on any ac- 
count, or even hurt, for he could not forget that 
a Puma had saved the life of his little son. 

And so, through this, Patterfoot had an ex- 
tremely nice life of it, and enjoyed himself 
thoroughly. He was always playful, even when 
he grew older and had a wife and children to 
think of. He would go out and kill some fresh 

192 



THE PUMA 

food for them, even big, full-grown animals, 
such as a horse, cow, or Wapiti deer, and be as 
savage as any other wild beast if danger threat- 
ened his beloved ones, but he was always ready 
for a romp, just as he had been on that first day 
we met him in the woods, when he was having 
such a lovely time playing with the leaves all by 
himself. 



193 



THE YAK 



THE YAK 




T had been a bitterly cold day, even for 
Tibet, and the wind had already changed 
about a dozen times in a few hours, 
but Eoamer, a handsome young Yak, 
still lay placidly on the highest and 
most barren plateau and chewed his cud con- 
tentedly. 

He had had a good feed early in the morning, 
and had then wended his way slowly up the hill- 
side, and, having selected one of the bleakest 
spots he could find, had settled himself down and 
been there ever since. He had not been grown- 
up very long, and so took a pride in doing just 
what he had seen the older Yak do. But he got 
tired at last, and, rousing himself, shook his 
bead, waved his thick, bushy tail, and stamped 
one of his short, stumpy legs on the hard ground. 

197 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

He looked a fine, well-grown animal as he 
stood there, silhouetted against the sky. He 
stood nearly six feet high at the shoulders, and 
was massively formed, with short stout legs, a 
long and narrow head with a flat forehead, 
smooth horns— not quite come to perfection yet 
—which curled upward and outward, and then 
curved boldly forward, small ears and muzzle, 
but no dewlap. His back was not straight be- 
cause his shoulders were high and formed a 
curious curve, while the mass of long, thick 
hair with which his flanks, limbs, and tail 
were covered gave him quite a distinguished 
appearance. 

Suddenly he scented danger and looked 
sharply round. But Roamer's sight was not 
very good, and the next minute, the wind shift- 
ing again, he lost the scent, and, thinking he had 
been mistaken, he prepared to descend the hill 
and try to find his three companions. This was 
the first time he had ever spent a day alone, as 
these four young Yak generally went about 
together, but the others had gone wandering off 

198 






THE YAK 

somewhere — a well-known habit of the Yak 
family— and Roamer had not troubled himself 
much about them. 

He had wandering fits himself sometimes. As 
a rule he was quite content with the coarse pas- 
turage and rough, dry, wiry grass which grew in 
the high valleys, but occasionally he would feel 
inclined for something better, and then he would 
wander down the mountain side to the soft, green 
banks of streams, where he would find delicious, 
luxuriant rich grass which he enjoyed thor- 
oughly. Often, when on these wandering ex- 
peditions, he would travel miles and miles and 
forget all about his companions, all about every- 
thing, but after a time he would slowly make his 
way back again, and rejoin the others as though 
he had never been away at all. 

The only time when he ever felt uneasy was 
when he came across a solitary Yak, and then 
he was always afraid it might be his great 
enemy, an old bull— for the old bulls always go 
about alone. 

This old bull had once nearly killed Roamer 
199 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

when he was a little calf. So he was always 
on the lookout, but at the same time always a 
little relieved when he found any solitary Yak 
he met was not his old enemy. 

Now, on this particular day, as Eoamer made 
his way down to the valley, he met his enemy, 
the old bull, coming up, and soon they stood 
face to face. But only for a few seconds, 
for the minute Roamer saw the big, cruel horns, 
and wicked, red eyes of his enemy at such close 
quarters, he came to the conclusion that he 
would wait until he was a little older before 
having a fight; and so, without losing time, he 
suddenly turned, and, with a wild whisk of 
head and heels, he tore down the hillside at a 
full gallop. 

So excited —and I am sorry to say, frightened 
—was he, that he never noticed a something 
on the ground which moved slowly forward to 
meet him as he came tearing madly down the 
hill. 

He did not notice anvthing, so taken up was 
he with keeping a sharp lookout lest the old bull 

200 



THE YAK 

should follow him, until there was a loud, sharp 
bang— another and another— he felt a curious 
burning pain in one shoulder, and then, forget- 
ting the bull, forgetting everything but those 
dreadful things of fire and smoke in front of 
him, he turned and tore up the hill again, giving 
gruff, hoarse grunts all the way. 

Suddenly Roamer pulled himself up with a 
sharp jerk, for there, lying directly in his path, 
was the old bull, bleeding profusely from a 
wound in his side, his grand old head sunk 
down, the wicked eyes closed and still, and his 
breath coming in quick, short gasps. 

Now was his time. And he suddenly lowered 
his massive head and strong horns, and butted 
the old bull until he was dead. 

He waved his tail and made that curious 
grunting noise again when he saw that his old 
foe was really vanquished, but he had bought 
his revenge dearly. For the time being he had 
forgotten the pain in his shoulder in his excite- 
ment at finishing off the old Yak, but at this 
moment he had another pain and a much sharper 

20I 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

one. It was in his leg this time, and the shock 
of it sent him down to the ground. 

When he tried to get up the pain was so great 
that he just stayed where he was, and even when 
three or four men came forward whom he knew 
to be his deadly enemies, he did not get up, only 
grunted, and moaned, and butted at them with 
his horns. They had long ropes in their hands, 
and, although they were careful not to go too 
close to him, in some curious way these ropes got 
wound all around him, and then— oh! the agony 
and horror of it— he was dragged by two strong 
horses onto a sledge and jolted all the rest of the 
way downhill until they came to a rough shed, 
and into this he was put, strongly and carefully 
tied up. 

But his sufferings were not over yet. The 
men came and handled his poor broken leg until, 
in his pain and rage, he nearly wrenched him- 
self free, but at last they left him, and then he 
found that his leg was tied up with strips of 
stuff and somehow it felt easier. 

But, oh! how miserable he was, and how he 
202 




Wild Creatures Afield 

"HE TURNED AND TORE UP THE HILL AGAIN 



203 



THE YAK 

longed to get out and be free once more. He 
could hear the other Yak grunting* in the dis- 
tance, and was able to tell by the sound of those 
grunts what they were doing. Once he knew 
that there was danger about, and that the bulls 
and cows had put all the calves together, and 
were forming a circular line of defense outside, 
and he longed to go and help them. Then there 
was a sudden sound of many hoofed feet gal- 
loping over the ground, and by this he knew that 
the enemy had appeared and that the Yak were 
racing away with heads down and heels up. 

He thought of all the beautiful hillsides and 
plateaus— desolate and dreary enough to men, 
but delightfully cold and enjoyable to him— and 
of his three young companions, and grieved and 
fretted so much, that, with this and the pain of 
his broken leg and wounded shoulder, he grew 
thin and weak, and utterly wretched. They 
gave him food that he did not like, too. Very 

*The Yak neither bellows nor roars ; it simply grunts some- 
thing like a pig (from which it derives its Latin title), which 
is one of its chief peculiarities. — Author. 

IS— Wild Creatures Afield 205 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

little grass, but some horrible corn, which made 
his skin grow hot and red, and caused him 
intense suffering.* 

And all this came from his butting and killing 
the old bull, for had he only gone straight on, the 
hunters would never have caught him. 

But, as the time went on, his leg began to get 
better, and he slowly grew strong again. And 
one day, when the men had not been quite so 
careful as usual to see that he was tied up 
securely, he wrenched himself free, and, before 
they realized what was happening, he had 
broken down their miserable little wooden door, 
and away he went up to the mountains, scaling 
steep ascents, for he was as hardy and sure- 
footed as any goat, climbing rugged peaks, and 
never resting until he found himself once more 
on one of his beloved plateaus. 

And there he lay down in the bleak, bitter 



*Yak will not eat corn except when extremely hungry. 
When compelled to eat it, their skin becomes hot and inflamed 
and causes the animals great suffering. This is their great 
disadvantage when used as beasts of burden. — Author. 

206 



THE YAK 

wind, never too bleak or too bitter for a Yak, 
chewed his cud contentedly and reveled in his 
freedom again. He had no more special 
enemies of his own kind from that day, for he 
was an abnormally big and strong Yak, and was 
able to hold his own with all comers, who were 
only too anxious to be friendly with him for the 
sake of peace and quietness. 

And there he is to this day, and although he 
is getting a little old himself now, he can always 
be recognized by the scars given him in his youth 
by the old bull, and those he received from the 
hunters. 



207 



THE MARCH HARE 



THE MARCH HARE 




HAT with the rain, the cold, the sleet, 
and the blustering, flustering wind, 
Madden, the Hare, began to feel 
nearly as wild as the weather. 
It had been all very well, as long 
as the weather had kept fairly good, for, having 
a nice, warm fur coat, Madden did not par- 
ticularly mind cold, and could always stay in 
her sheltered burrow, or form, if not inclined 
to go out. But when the wind rose and began 
to moan and wail, and then finally whistle and 
roar, it was too much of a good thing, and it was 
quite impossible to stay in the burrow while all 
that racket went on. 

So Madden had ventured out, and after she 
had been buffeted by the wind, drenched by the 

211 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

rain, and half frozen by the biting cold, she 
began to resent it, and got so excited she 
scarcely knew what she was doing. 

It was just the beginning of March, and she 
had been thinking how nice it was that the worst 
of the winter had gone, when suddenly this spell 
of bad weather had come, and she was angry for 
many reasons. One reason was that it was so 
difficult to hear anything in all this noise and 
bluster, and no matter how far back she laid 
her big, long ears, she could not tell in the very 
least whether there was danger near or not, and 
this made her so timid and nervous that she grew 
more excited than ever. 

This was just the time of year when she needed 
all her greatest care and precautions, and she 
had noticed more enemies about lately than ever. 
There was one old rat whom she hated cordially, 
for he had been the torment of her life all that 
winter, and many a time he had sent her back 
to her home panting and trembling with terror. 

Another terrible enemy— the most terrible of 
all— was a fox; a sly, crafty, cunning fellow, 

212 



THE MARCH HARE 

who, with his wicked eyes and bushy tail, was a 
very nightmare to poor little Madden. 

Another foe she dreaded was a huge dog who 
lived at the farm close by, and who seemed to 
think it was great fun chasing a hare, and tore 
after her whenever he had the chance, barking 
and yelping until Madden 's very fur stood on 
end with fright. But, as a rule, Madden led 
him a nice dance. The dog had not been 
trained to catch hares, and could not understand 
why he lost so much ground just because Madden 
kept turning, and twisting, and doubling back. 
He wished she would keep straight on ; he might 
then have a chance of catching her, but this 
chance the Hare took good care he should not 
have. 

But if this sort of weather was going to keep 
on, Madden dreaded to think what might happen. 
For how could she keep a lookout for danger 
and enemies if she could hear nothing but the 
moaning and howling of the wind? So it was 
not much wonder that Madden felt almost as 
wild as the proverbial March Hare, for she 

213 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

could not rest in her burrow, and she certainly 
could not rest outside. 

After one terrific buffeting by the wind and 
rain, Madden sat down on her furry little tail, 
and tried to lick off some of the frozen rain on 
her paws and whiskers. She was in a little 
niche out of the wind and was just thinking she 
would go back to her form for a time, when a 
gust of wind brought her a whiff of something 
which sent a thrill of horror through her. 

She knew only too well what it was. It was 
the scent of a fox, but the next moment, owing 
to the shiftiness of the wind, it had gone again, 
and the terrible part of it was that Madden did 
not know in which direction her enemy might 
be. She laid her ears back and listened with 
one paw held up, and her poor little nose sniffing 
and quivering with terror. 

Suddenly there was a sound of steps— pitter 
patter, pitter patter— and away Madden went, 
where or in what direction she neither knew nor 
cared. She never stopped until she came to an 
opening in the earth, and into this she dived 

214 



THE MARCH HARE 

with no thought for anything but to get away 
from that dreadful something behind her. 

Down she went into the hole, and was half 
way in before she realized with an awful pang 
that she was actually running into the very 
burrow of the fox himself. There could be no 
doubt about it, for the smell was overpowering, 
and there was no other smell like it anywhere. 

In vain poor little Madden tried to turn round ; 
it was quite impossible, as, partly from fear and 
excitement,— for she was now just as mad as 
she could be for the time being— partly because 
the burrow was a narrow one, and she was not 
turning herself the right way. Another mo- 
ment and she would be killed. 

But at this moment a wonderful thing hap- 
pened. Instead of the fox killing Madden, he 
seemed to be busy killing something else. A 
terrific scrimmage was going on, and, after a 
moment's listening, the Hare became conscious 
that it was one of her rat enemies that the fox 
was having a fight with. 

In between the howling and roaring of the 

215 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

wind, there were sharp, angry, snarling barks, 
and curious shrill screams, which were enough 
to frighten anything far less timid than a Hare. 
As soon as Madden realized the state of affairs, 
she backed out and out, until by the cold air on 
her back she knew she was once more getting 
out into the open air. 

Then with a wild bound, and long, swift leaps 
she went on and on, not knowing where she was 
going, or what she was doing. At such a terrific 
speed was she traveling that she even passed 
her old enemy the rat, and was so daring and 
impudent as to kick him in the face with one of 
her hind feet as she passed. 

And the rat was so taken by surprise that he 
could only look after her, stroke his nose 
thoughtfully where she had kicked him, and 
make the best of it. 

Meanwhile, Madden, the Hare, tore on, and as 
the wind got rougher and wilder, so she also got 
more reckless, and daring and excited. At last 
in sheer exuberance of spirits and excitement, 
she careered round and round in a circle, and 

216 



THE MARCH HARE 

when she stopped found the fox quite close to 
her.* So off she started once more, and never 
rested, except for short intervals, until at last 
the wind got tired and sleepy, and sank to rest, 
not having energy enough left even to make a 
little breeze. 

And then Madden calmed down, lost her wild 
and reckless feeling, and began instead to have 
tender thoughts and joyful anticipations. Her 
fur soon lost the ragged, unkempt look caused 
by the wind and rain, and when she had licked 
and dressed it carefully, she began to feel her- 
self again. And quite time, too, for spring 
would soon be here, and in springtime— 

Then she began to look for a nice open space, 
airy but sheltered, and after a week or two 
found the very place she wanted. She scratched 
out a little shallow hollow, collected some nice 
soft leaves and grasses, and then carefully 
picked out some tufts of soft fur from her breast, 



♦It is a fact the Hares get in this state in windy, rough 
weather.— Author. 

217 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

and lined it throughout to make it warm and 
comfortable. 

A few days more, and then Madden woke up 
one line, bright morning to see the sun shining, 
to hear the birds twittering, and feeling very, 
very happy. All Nature was looking joyful, 
and in the comfortable warm nest that Madden 
had prepared so carefully a short time before, 
were three pretty furry little creatures with long 
ears and tiny soft noses, very like Madden her- 
self. Such wee, helpless little mites were they 
that Madden, in spite of all her motherly care, 
nearly crushed them once or twice in her ner- 
vousness and anxiety to shield them. 

She had need to be nervous and anxious, too, 
for she knew perfectly well that baby leverets 
were considered great dainties, not only by foxes 
and rats, but by lots of other things, such as 
weasels, hawks, owls, and cats. So every now 
and then the Mother Hare would get out of the 
nest, lift herself up on her hind feet, and, with 
her ears laid well back, and her soft nose sniff- 
ing the air, would listen for the slightest sound. 

218 



THE MARCH HARE 

She was in the very act of listening when she 
suddenly noticed the old rat coming towards her. 
In an instant Madden ran straight towards the 
barn. She had two objects in doing this. One 
was to get the old rat away from her little ones, 
and another was that she knew there were eggs 
in the barn, and also a steel trap which she in- 
tended to lead him over if possible. 

So away they went, the Hare leading at a 
wild pace and the rat running his very hardest, 
for he would certainly get the Hare this time. 
In darted the Hare through the barn door— so 
daring a deed had never been done before, not 
even by a Mother Hare— and made straight for 
a distant corner, where, as the rat could see, 
there was a whole nestful of beautiful white eggs. 
He followed blindly, for he was dreadfully hun- 
gry, and the sight of the eggs made his mouth 
water. 

With a couple of bounds Madden reached the 
corner, but the old rat did not leap as she had 
done, and suddenly he stopped with a shrill 
scream of pain, for one of his legs had been 

219 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

caught in that cruel trap, and he was unable 
to move. At the sound of those repeated 
screams, several sharp noses, and quick, bright 
eyes peeped out of odd corners in the barn, and 
when the owners of those noses and eyes found 
it was a comrade in distress, they straightway 
one and all set upon him savagely, and never 
rested until they had almost torn him to pieces, 
for this is a custom in rat land. 

In the middle of all the confusion, Madden, 
the Hare, ran out, and that was the last she saw 
of the rats, for as soon as they had killed the old 
rat, they set to work and ate the eggs them- 
selves before the old hen had time to get back 
to the nest. 

Madden lost no time in getting back to her 
little ones after this, and although she was very 
tired, she laid her long, warm body over them 
and nourished and nursed them tenderly. 

And that was the very happiest Easter that 
Madden, the Hare, had ever had. One of her 
greatest enemies was dead ; she had three lovely 
little babies of her very own, and the glad, bright 

220 



THE MARCH HARE 

sun shone over all the earth, making the little 
buds open their eyes to see what that bright light 
was, and making the dull, plain, little brown 
roots peep up through the earth with little green 
shoots just to see what everything else in nature 
was doing. 

And, to crown it all, a little bird in a tree near 
by had just laid her first egg— which was really 
an Easter egg— and was sitting on a branch 
singing a most beautiful Easter song, which she 
had just composed for the occasion. 



14— Wild Creatures Afield ^2\ 



THE LYRE-BIRD 



THE LYRE-BIRD 




,J T was May day in one of the most 
beautiful brushwoods of New South 
Wales, and Leela, the Lyre-bird, was 
feeling just as happy as he possibly 
could, for it was nesting-time, and he 
and his pretty little wife were as busy as bees. 

Leela was very proud of his wife, for he had 
had many adventures and difficulties when win- 
ning her, and so considered he had won a great 
prize. He was a beautiful bird himself, and 
although he had had wives before, he had never 
assumed his full plumage until this year, and so 
had been unable to sing.* He had been very 

*Lyre-birds do not sing until they get their full tails, the 
two central curved feathers being the last to appear. This 
takes place about the fourth year. — Author. 

225 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

proud, indeed, when, a few weeks before, his 
beautiful central tail-feathers appeared and 
grew steadily, and when he found he could 
really sing, he made the most of it and sang 
morning and evening until his throat ached. 

He had tried all sorts of dodges before to make 
the pretty little bird he liked so much listen to 
him, but she would not even come near him. In 
vain he imitated the cries and songs of other 
birds, so wonderfully at times that the namesakes 
of the birds he was imitating would actually fly 
quite close to him, thinking it was one of their 
own species, and only finding out it was a Lyre- 
bird when the thick brushwood parted and they 
were able to see this curious creature, with 
his enormous brownish body, strong, big, 
muscular legs, and extraordinary tail, which 
sometimes spread over his head like a pea- 
cock's! 

But Leela did not want the birds whose cries 
he was imitating. He was merely doing it at 
that time to try to induce the pretty Lyre-bird to 
come nearer and let him see her. Once he 

226 



THE LYRE-BIRD 

nearly managed it, for, quite suddenly, the 
bushes parted and Preen peeped through. 

Leela straightway went up to her, and asked 
her to have a walk in his private grounds or 
boundary, but after one or two quick glances, 
Preen drew back and disappeared, and it was a 
long time before Leela saw her again. But all 
this time his tail-feathers were growing steadily, 
which told all the other Lyre-birds that he was 
now nearly a full-grown bird, and one day, as he 
was strutting about he began to sing. 

As he sang, he spread his beautiful, graceful 
tail over his head, drooped his wings, and every 
now and then in between his songs, would 
scratch and pick up the earth. And it was while 
he was doing this that the pretty little Lyre-bird 
appeared again, and as Leela did not see her and 
went on singing his hardest, she watched him 
quietly, thought what a beautiful bird he was, 
and what a lovely voice he had ! 

And presently, when Leela looked up and saw 
her standing there, he felt quite nervous and 
shy, and for a moment or two did not quite know 

227 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

what to say, but then he walked forward to 
meet her. 

And whether it was his singing that attracted 
her, I don't know, but after that they always 
went about together, took nice shady walks in 
the private grounds, which Leela had carefully 
kept to himself for so long, and finally came to 
the conclusion that it was quite time to build a 
nest. 

And this was the reason that Leela felt so very 
happy on that particular May day, and so very 
important. It was hard work building the nest, 
for, first of all, the outside had to be made of 
nice little sticks woven together with moss, and 
the fine fibres of roots. Then, a number of 
skeleton leaves of the parasitical tree-fern, 
which is just like horsehair in appearance, had 
to be collected to line the inside of the nest and 
make it firm and soft. After this, the roof had 
to be put on — for Lyre-birds don't believe in 
having a nest open at the top— and a hole left 
at one side to go in and out. 

This took some time, and when it was quite 
228 




Wild Creatures Afield 

"SANG AS HE HAD NEVER SUNG BEFORE" 



229 



THE LYRE-BIRD 

finished the month of May had gone and June 
had come, so one fine day Preen went into her 
nice comfortable nest, and laid one egg. It was 
a curious-looking egg, of a very dark color, and 
looked as though it had been smeared all over 
with ink, but Preen was very proud of it, and 
so was Leela when he knew of it. 

That evening he sang as he had never sung 
before, not even when he first found he had a 
voice, and Preen sat in the nest on the egg in 
order to keep it nice and warm, and listened to 
her husband's songs. She laid no more eggs, 
but was very careful over that precious one, 
and scarcely ever left the nest, except just to 
eat something and get a little water now and 
then. 

Leela took care she should not have to go far 
for food. He kept a sharp lookout for insects, 
and picked out the very best for Preen. He 
generally brought her beetles, or centipedes, 
but sometimes he was able to get a nice, fat 
snail, and this was a great dainty and always 
did her good. 

231 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Once, when Leela had collected one or two 
beetles and two snails close by the nest, a big 
snake suddenly shot ont from the undergrowth, 
and had it not been that, with his strong feet 
and muscular legs, Leela was able to take 
enormous leaps, he would have been killed on 
the spot. As it was, he sprang with one bound 
from the ground to a bough nearly eight feet 
above, and so saved his life. 

For a long time after this Leela was very 
timid and nervous, and imitated the cries of all 
the birds who were likely to make snakes keep 
away, for he was in terrible fear lest one of 
these dreadful enemies of his should find out 
the nest, and perhaps eat that most precious 

egg- 

But when June followed May, and July had 
come, the egg was an egg no longer, for one 
day the shell cracked, a funny little head peeped 
forth, followed by a soft, fluffy body, and lo! 
there was a fine young Lyre-bird ! 

Very proud his parents were of him, and for 
a whole month fed and cared for him in the 

232 



THE LYRE-BIRD 

tenderest manner, giving him all the dainty bits 
of food, sheltering him from all danger, and 
making as much of him as though there never 
had been such a wonderful young Lyre-bird 
before. 

When he was about a month old, the young 
bird began to lose his downy, fluffy appearance, 
and little stubbly growths sprouted from his 
body, wings, and tail. He was not nearly as 
good-looking as he had been, owing to his down 
falling off in patches, and his legs being rather 
thin and scraggy, but his parents did not mind 
this a bit. They were only too pleased to see 
the little stubbly bits peeping out, because it 
showed it was nearly time to teach him how to 
walk about and do things for himself. 

So one day they made the young bird get out 
of the nest, and move round first of all on the 
branches. Then, another day, they taught him 
how to get down and walk about and find food 
for himself. Sometimes Leela would hear some 
bird singing or crying in the distance, and he 
would imitate it so exactly that the young bird 

233 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

would look round for the stranger, thinking it 
must be close to him, and the mates of the bird 
whose cry Leela was imitating, would look in to 
see what he was doing in the private grounds of 
a Lyre-bird. 

The young bird tried once or twice to do it 
himself, but he only made a funny little squeak 
which sounded ridiculous, but when, after a 
time, his father and mother left him to look 
after himself, he tried it again, and as he grew 
older, found he could do it quite easily and very 
well. 

And, in time, he grew to be almost as fine a 
Lyre-bird as Leela, and, although he had for- 
gotten his father and mother by that time, he 
did much the same things— ate insects of all 
kinds, had a private ground of his own, and 
when his two curved tail-feathers had grown, 
sang morning and evening as well as ever his 
father, Leela, had sung on that beautiful May 
morning a few years before. 



234 



THE HAMSTER 



THE HAMSTER 




NE fine April day, a little, yellowish- 
brown animal crept out of some 
soft, dry soil on one of the banks of 
the Rhine, in Germany, and took a 
look around. 
He was something like a rat, except that he 
had a short tail, and that instead of being dark 
above and light beneath, all his upper parts 
were a lightish brown-yellow, merging into a 
reddish-brown, while his under parts, the 
greater part of his legs, and a stripe on his fore- 
head were a deep black, so that he looked as 
though he had turned his fur coat upside down. 
The outer part of this coat was hair, but under- 
neath there was a thick coat of woolly fur. 
He measured about a foot in length, and was 

2 37 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

stoutly built, with a thick body and neck, a 
pointed muzzle, medium- sized, pointed ears, just 
like a rat's, quick, and very bright eyes, full 
cheek-pouches, and sharp claws. He looked a 
queer little object as he stood there glancing 
hurriedly in all directions, and sniffing the air 
with his flexible nose in a suspicious manner. 

This was Jumperlink, the Hamster, who had 
only lately awakened from a nice, long, winter 
sleep, and was so hungry that he even ate a 
mouse and beetle that happened to be walking 
that way. This ought to have put him into a 
good temper, for a mouse is very satisfying, but 
no one ever saw a Hamster in a good temper 
yet. 

Jumperlink was particularly morose and ill- 
natured even for a Hamster, and his one thought 
throughout his life was to get together as much 
corn in his burrow as he possibly could, and not 
let any one else have a single grain. His winter 
burrows were models of neatness and tidiness. 

In the first place, he had made a perpendicular 
entrance into the earth for nearly six feet. At 

238 



THE HAMSTER 

the end of this passage he had made a little turn, 
and then burrowed out his dwelling-chamber. 
This was not very big, but he rubbed the walls 
quite smooth with his body, and strewed fine 
straw on the floor to make it nice and comfort- 
able. Out of this little room he made three other 
passages — two leading to the granaries, where 
he stored his corn, and one leading outside. 

He had worked day and night all the summer 
before, hoarding up all kinds of grain, and as 
soon as one granary was full, stopping up the 
entrance with earth, and then beginning to fill the 
other. He was very methodical, too, and kept 
all the different kinds of grain together, even 
when they were stored in the same granary. But 
he never let another Hamster help him, neither 
did he let him have any of his corn. If his fel- 
lows did not gather any for themselves, they 
could go without for all he cared, even though 
he had more than he wanted. 

But since he had awakened some time before, 
Jumperlink had eaten all his corn, and this was 
the reason he had come out of his winter burrow. 

15— Wild Creatures Afield 2 ^Q 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

It would soon be time to make his summer 
burrow now, for no Hamster thinks of living in 
a winter home in the summer. 

The summer burrow is not nearly so far down 
in the earth, and has not such large storehouses, 
for there is always plenty of food in the summer 
— beans, peas, all kinds of fruit, nice fresh grass 
and green herbage, and fine small insects. And 
as Jumperlink began to think of all this, he de- 
cided that he must look round at once for some 
suitable spot. 

After some little trouble he found a beautiful 
place, and he was soon very hard at work, for, if 
a Hamster has one special good quality, it is that 
he is one of the most industrious little animals 
to be found anywhere. He never stopped, even 
to rest, until all the burrows and passages were 
quite finished and patterns of neatness, tidiness, 
and cleanliness. Every tiny bit of litter or 
offensive matter was carried carefully out of 
doors, and, beyond a little straw and chaff 
strewn about the entrances, everything was as 
clean as a new pin. 

240 



THE H A M STER 

But Jumperlink allowed uo one to come inside 
his burrow even to look at it. He had a wife, 
but he never once allowed her to come and see 
him. He made her keep to her own burrow, and, 
if he wanted to see her at any time, he would go 
to her, but any attempt on her part to go inside 
his house would lead to a terrific fight, for he 
hated company and liked always to be alone. 

Not only did he make his wife keep to her own 
burrow, but he also made her find her own food 
as best she could, for not a grain of corn, or a 
single bean would he give her. And his wife was 
just as greedy, and took care to keep all she got 
for herself. It was because, when Jumperlink 
came to call on her, that he always tried to get 
some of her stores, that they generally had a 
good fight before he went away. She had every 
bit as much temper and viciousness as Jumper- 
link, and could fight with her sharp teeth and 
claws as well as many of the full-grown Ham- 
sters living round, who were noted for their 
fighting qualities, and avoided by the more timid 
Hamsters. 

241 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Now, although Jumperlink was so unsociable 
and so rarely went to see her, he was very jealous 
of other Hamsters, and would not allow any one 
else near either his or his wife's burrows but 
himself. He was always having fights about 
this matter, for he was dreadfully quarrelsome, 
and, when in a passion, his strength and fero- 
ciousness were surprising. He only wanted a 
very little excuse at any time for a quarrel or 
fight, and so, in time, he grew to be avoided by 
the others as a dangerous fellow, because of his 
strength and obstinacy. 

But there was one other Hamster who was just 
as surly and quarrelsome as Jumperlink himself, 
and nearly as strong, and who wasn't the least 
bit afraid of him. They had had one or two 
fights, but it had always ended in Jumperlink 's 
getting the best of it. Still, the other fellow was 
not afraid. He determined to get the best of it 
one of these days, and so was always ready for 
another fight whenever there was a chance. 

It happened one day that this other Hamster 
saw Jumperlink come out of his burrow and 

242 



THE HAMSTER 

scamper along in the other direction, his little 
white feet flying behind him, and thinking this 
would be a good time to steal some of his corn— 
for he was as greedy and covetous as the rest- 
he scuttled down Jumperlink's burrow, and into 
his storehouse without wasting a moment. There 
were some beautiful things there, all carefully 
and neatly piled up, and he was just beginning 
to have a good feed when he heard Jumperlink 
coming back. 

For a moment the Hamster hesitated. It was 
one thing fighting Jumperlink outside his 
burrow, but he did not care much about doing 
it inside. For one reason, he did not know his 
way about these passages very well, and it was 
difficult to go out the way he had come in, for a 
Hamster always has one way to come in and 
another to go out. 

But that moment 's hesitation was fatal. Long 
before the Hamster had time to do anything, 
Jumperlink was down the entrance, into his 
dwelling-room, and at his enemy's throat before 
he knew where he was. The intruder put forth 

243 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

all his strength, shook Jumperlink off with a 
great effort, and off they started again, biting, 
uttering little shrill screams, and tearing at one 
another with their forepaws, forgetting every- 
thing but their hatred and anger. 

And while they were in the midst of the fight, 
and panting for breath, there came quietly and 
softly down the entrance and into the dwelling- 
place a long, snake-like animal, with a mahog- 
any-brown body, and a small head with keen, 
bright eyes. This was a Stoat, and one of the 
Hamster's greatest enemies.* At any other 
time the two Hamsters would have known he 
was near by the disagreeable smell he had when- 

*The Hamster has numberless enemies. Buzzards, ravens, 
owls, and other birds destroy them by hundreds, but the pole- 
cat and stoat have the greatest power and advantage over 
them, in being able to follow them into their burrows. Were 
it not for all these enemies, Hamsters are so prolific that 
they would speedily overrun the country, and do immense 
damage to crops, etc. The natives occasionally dig them out 
and destroy them, and, when doing this, collect all the corn 
and grain in the burrows. — Author. 

244 



THE HAMSTER 

ever he was angry, but just then they were both 
so excited that they did not even notice this. 

And so, just as the other Hamster was at last 
getting the best of Jnmperlink, the Stoat went 
quickly forward, seized first one, and then the 
other, and, before they could either do more than 
give one little shriek of terror, he had given them 
each one sharp, deep bite at the back of their 
necks with his cruel teeth, and killed them almost 
immediately. 

And, had it not been that the Stoat was a little 
bit lazy that day, he would probably have killed 
a great many others as well, but he was satisfied 
with those two and left the others in peace. 

So Jumperlink's wife was troubled by him no 
more, and she was very glad, for soon after this 
she made a neat chamber and filled it with 
a bed of soft hay for her six little babies. Such 
funny little things, quite blind and naked, but 
with sharp teeth and strong little claws to their 
feet, which showed they would soon be as great 
fighters as their father and mother. 

But in about seven or eight days their bodies 
245 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

were covered with soft hair, they opened their 
bright little eyes, and very soon showed that they 
could be just as cross and disagreeable as any 
grown-up Hamster. When they were two weeks 
old they could burrow themselves, and very rest- 
less they were, and soon spoiled the tidiness and 
neatness of the burrow. But when they were 
nearly three weeks old their mother got very 
tired of them, although she had been very good 
to them up to then. She found them very 
troublesome and tiresome at times, and longed to 
be alone once more and do as she liked. 

So one day when they had all been particu- 
larly cross and ill-natured, she turned them all 
out and let them do the best they could for them- 
selves. And the little Hamsters didn't mind a 
bit. They hated being in a crowd, and promptly 
set to work to make burrows of their own, and 
save up beans and corn for the winter. 

But they took very good care after this not to 
have anything to do with one another, and to 
keep all they got for themselves, like true Ham- 
sters. 

246 



THE COYOTE 



THE COYOTE 




OYT, a handsome full-grown Coyote, 
jy#7 or Prairie-wolf, was noted for miles 
round the neighborhood in which he 
lived in North America, not only for 
his unusual size— for, as a rule, a 
Coyote is not as large as an ordinary wolf —and 
peculiarly shaped bushy tail, but for his daring 
and strength, and for the terrible amount of 
mischief and depredations he had committed 
from time to \jme. 

It seemed absolutely useless to set traps for 
him. He passed them by with quick, soft, swift 
steps, and grinning jaws, as though smiling at 
the useless efforts of man. All sorts of dodges 
and contrivances had been tried, various traps 
of new manufacture, which even the majority of 

249 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

men would not understand without being told, 
and plans and expeditions which took weeks to 
work and carry out. Koyt appeared to know all 
about them, and, although he had some very 
narrow escapes, he always come out safely, and, 
with a blood-curdling howl, which sounded like 
a dozen wolves howling at once, he would be 
heard in the distance as though jeering and hoot- 
ing in defiance. 

In the winter he had grown desperate at one 
time, and had even attacked the inmates of a 
farm-house, and nearly killed a man. In this 
case the man had in return nearly killed him, but 
Koyt got off with a hole torn in his hind leg, 
which made him limp a little all the rest of his 
life. 

He had suffered a good deal while he had this 
bad leg, and nearly starved to death, but he just 
saved himself by eating anything that happened 
to come in his way, which chanced to be one or 
two mice, a frog, who seemed to have lost his 
way, and a few insects. By the time he was able 
to leave the cunningly hidden cave in which he 

250 



THE COYOTE 

stayed, he had grown so thin and gaunt that his 
thick, handsome fur coat hung in limp, ragged 
folds on his almost neshless bones, his eyes had 
almost sunk into his head, and his legs were so 
weak and rickety that he could scarcely stand. 

But he did not give in even then. He dragged 
himself to the nearest farm that very night and 
ate a few of the farmer's finest chickens and 
ducks, one or two eggs, two tame rabbits, and a 
rat who came out of his hole to see what the hens 
were cackling about. 

And while the farmer was getting dressed to 
go and see what all the noise was about, Koyt, 
who felt wonderfully better after his delightful 
meal, crept off with quick, silent steps, and was a 
long way off by the time the owner got to the 
shed. He had a good sleep after this supper— 
the first good meal he had had for weeks— and in 
a day or two he was almost himself again, ex- 
cept that he was still very thin. 

However, he soon fattened himself up with 
some more farm delicacies until it seemed too 
dangerous, and then he hunted up a few rabbits, 

251 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

killed a number of sheep, just for the fun of it, 
for he could not possibly eat them all, and, when 
he had driven the poor farmer nearly wild, 
sneaked off to another neighborhood to play the 
same tricks over again. 

He was playing these tricks when, in spite of 
all his caution, one night his bushy tail got 
caught in a trap. In spite of his pain, he did not 
howl or make the least sound. He knew per- 
fectly well that it would bring his enemies to him 
at once, and that then there would be no more 
chance for him. 

But when he had tried and tried to pull his tail 
out of that cruel trap, when he had strained 
every nerve, drawing his lips tightly back over 
his fang-like teeth with the acute agony of it, he 
found his tail was still as tightly wedged in as 
ever, and that he was simply making matters 
worse. 

With all his efforts and suffering he had only 
succeeded in tearing his tail badly, and in drag- 
ging the trap a tiny distance. He would have 
taken the trap with him if he could, in spite of the 

252 



THE COYOTE 

pain it caused him, but it was far too heavy. So, 
after awhile, he lay down to rest awhile and to 
lick his tail as best he could. 

After a time, he started up in terror, for he 
heard a man's voice in the distance. He was 
willing to fight, for although, like all his kind, 
he was cowardly, yet, when wounded and 
brought to bay as in this case, he was brave 
enough, and could fight to the death. 

But, being a Coyote, he had no wish to fight to 
the death if he could possibly help it. He would 
very much rather get away ; he did not care how, 
or in what way. So, at the second sound of the 
man's voice, which was some way off yet, but 
undoubtedly coming nearer and nearer, he 
curved his head round towards his tail, and with 
many whimperings, and little pitiful cries— 
for it hurt him dreadfully — he deliberately be- 
gan to bite off the end of his tail. 

He had almost finished, and was now trem- 
bling from head to foot with pain and fear, 
when the man's voice suddenly sounded close to 
him. He gave a sudden start, and with another 

2 53 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

sharp wrench he was free, and bounded swiftly 
away, leaving the tip of his beautiful tail in the 
trap as a souvenir for the farmer. 

And then he had another bad time, for his tail 
was dreadfully painful for a very long while, 
and he did not dare even to wag it. Once now 
and then when he felt pleased he would forget 
it, and wag it, and then he would suddenly stop 
with a little squeak, and look crestfallen and 
ashamed of himself, and finally end by lying 
down and licking it tenderly. 

But he got over this, as he got over every- 
thing else, and by the time spring had come was 
well and strong, and as for his tail it only looked 
as though he had lost a little of the bushy fur at 
the tip. 

By this time he was not only as well and strong 
as ever, but more reckless and daring than he 
had ever been in his life before. For, in the nice 
comfortable burrow which he had helped to 
make himself, he had a wife and six little baby 
Coyotes. Pretty little creatures, exactly like 
young puppies, showing signs of the same gray- 

254 



THE COYOTE 

ish, thick fur as his wife and himself. He cared 
for nothing now that he possessed a wife and 
family, and determined that they should have the 
very best of everything, no matter at what 
trouble or at what cost. 

He had brought home various dainties in the 
shape of chickens, rabbits, a rat or two, and 
some tender young birds, but it happened one 
week, that, for some reason or other, a great 
many men with guns were wandering round all 
the places where the chickens and rabbits lived, 
and Koyt decided to try something else for a 
change. 

Not that he was afraid, but he never ran into 
needless danger ; and that there was a great deal 
of danger about that week he knew perfectly 
well. So he set off one evening at dusk, and, 
after running swiftly and silently for a few 
miles, he came to a thick, bushy place where 
he knew the Mother Wapiti deer had their little 
ones. 

Now, the mothers had selected this nice, se- 
cluded place purposely for the safety of their 

16— Wild Creatures Afield 2^5 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

little fawns. As a rule, pumas and wolves did 
not come there, it was shady and quiet, and few 
of the Wapiti's enemies found out their where- 
abouts. But Koyt always seemed to find out 
the very things he was not wanted to, and in 
some curious way he w ent straight to the hiding- 
place of one particular Mother Wapiti who had 
two pretty little fawns. 

She was extremely proud of these little ones of 
hers, because very few Wapitis have more than 
one baby at a time. She knew instantly of 
the presence of the enemy, and, terrified as she 
was at pumas and wolves, she was quite ready to 
defend her little ones as long as she had breath 
in her body. 

She had been lying down with the fawns when 
she first became conscious of the danger. Then 
she suddenly got up, straightened her forelegs 
firmly, held up her head, and peered about with 
nervous, frightened eyes. There was a soft 
rustling movement, but nothing could be seen, 
although she strained her eyes until they ached. 
Koyt had tried for Wapitis before now, and 

256 



THE COYOTE 

knew that his only chance was to get quite close 
before he was seen. 

But he was not quick enough this time. Just 
for a second his gray body passed through a thin 
part of the bushes, and, as the Mother Wapiti 
caught sight of it, she uttered such a loud, 
piercing cry that even Koyt, daring as he was, 
started. It was no wonder he started, for as 
the mother sent forth that cry, every member of 
the Wapiti family in the neighborhood hurried 
out and flew towards her as fast as their fleet 
footsteps would let them.* 

And then Koyt had a bad time of it. What 
with being kicked with sharp hoofs, butted and 
torn with the long antlers of the Wapiti, and 
nearly stamped on, he began to think his wife 
would get no more meals at all from him. He 
would like to have killed just one before getting 



♦In times of danger, the hind gives forth a cry, which at 
once brings all the members of the herd who happen to be 
near enough to hear it to her assistance. One and all then 
unite to drive off the enemy, and do not leave the hind alone 
again until they have made quite sure that the enemy has 
gone off to a safe distance. — Author. 

257 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

away, but there was no chance at all. All the 
Wapiti, who appeared to come from all parts, 
were so vicious and determined to drive him off, 
that, with one long, miserable howl, which 
echoed and re-echoed through the night air, 
Koyt made a sudden spring to one side, and 
then flew across the forest at his swiftest 
speed. 

The Wapiti followed him for some distance, in 
case he should alter his mind and come back 
again, but Koyt had no wish to return; he had 
had enough for one night, and determined now 
to visit a farm which he knew of, and where he 
knew he could get a nice young animal of some 
sort. 

Now, as it happened, the owner of this farm 
had killed a young lamb for himself and family, 
and had left it hanging up in the shed, but had 
taken the precaution to carefully lock the door. 
It was impossible to get in, and as Koyt stood 
at the door of the shed, tired and breathless, and 
bleeding in many places, the smell of the fresh 
meat reached him, and he licked his lips as he 

258 



THE COYOTE 

thought of what a beautiful supper that would 
he if he could only get it. 

But he could not get it, so he crept cautiously 
round the shed, leaving a little trail of blood as 
he went, for one of the Wapitis ' antlers had torn 
his leg badly. As he went round the shed, the 
owner came along and unlocked the door ; Koyt 
heard him, but kept perfectly still, waiting to 
see what would happen next. He crept back a 
little way, saw the man take down the lamb, 
bring it out to the door, and then stop and look 
at the trail of blood leading round to the back 
of the shed. 

These blood-spots evidently puzzled the 
farmer, for he laid down the lamb just inside the 
shed, and came out again and followed the trail. 
As he went round one way, Koyt went round 
the other, and, as soon as he reached the door of 
the shed, he sprang in, caught up the lamb in his 
teeth, and was some distance off before the 
farmer even noticed his loss. 

As soon as the farmer missed the lamb he 
guessed pretty well that it must have been either 

^59 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

a wounded puma or wolf who had left the little 
trail of blood, but, as he had no gun with him, it 
was useless going after the thief, although he 
wondered how a wounded animal could have 
strength enough to carry off even a little lamb. 

But Koyt was wonderfully strong, and as he 
had got through dangers and difficulties before, 
so he got through this one, for, in spite of his 
sufferings, and the long, weary journey home, 
he arrived there at last, and, faint and ex- 
hausted as he was, brought home a good supper 
to his wife and little ones. 

And when he had licked his wounds and 
rested a little, he joined in with the others, and 
a very delightful supper they all had. 

And Koyt lived on for many, many years 
after this, until he was an old, gray, shaggy 
Prairie-wolf, gaunt and lean, fierce and savage, 
and feared for miles round for his reckless 
daring and ferocity. His coat got ragged and 
patchy in time, and he looked very different 
from the fine, well-grown animal he had been 
when he was young. But he was always 

260 



THE COYOTE 

known by a peculiar limp in one leg, and by- 
having no tip to his tail. And all who recog- 
nized those signs, took very great care to keep 
out of his way. 



261 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 




IHE King and Queen of the Termites 
(White Ants) were resting comfort- 
ably in their royal cell, and the busy 
workers were rushing in and out— 
some to bring food to the royal occu- 
pants, and some to carry away the eggs which 
the Queen was always so busy laying— when 
suddenly there was a big earthquake, which not 
only shook the whole nest, but even the royal 
cell itself. 

Now, as the workers always took care to make 
the royal cell in the very middle of the nest, for 
safety, all the Termites knew at once that some- 
thing dreadful was going to happen. They 
rushed about wildly here and there, tumbling 
over one another in their mad haste and crowd- 
ing up the passages to suffocation. Their one 

265 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

idea was to get out somewhere or anywhere, and 
they lost no time. But the King and Queen 
could not get out by themselves. 

For one thing, the royal cell had thicker walls 
than any other part of the nest, and the passages 
outside were much too small for their big bodies 
to go through. But in a few minutes they went 
out by some curious, invisible force; such a 
powerful, overwhelming force that before they 
were able even to get frightened they disap- 
peared down a long, dark tunnel and died, while 
thousands and thousands of the Termites — 
workers, soldiers, and nasutis — went the same 
way. 

And all this terrible mischief and havoc was 
caused by Slocum, the Sloth-bear. Slocum did 
not mind in the least what havoc she caused ; she 
did not even think about it. She had two fine 
little cubs at home, and had been so busy nursing 
and attending to them that she had forgotten 
herself for the time being, and it was only when 
she grew faint with hunger that she decided to 
go and get something to eat herself. 

266 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

As a rule, Slocum was rather particular about 
her food, and much preferred some nice fresh 
fruit, such as that of the ebony-tree, the jujube 
plum, figs, or the long beautiful pods of the 
cassia. She was also extremely fond of the 
brilliant scarlet flowers of the Mowha-tree, 
which shed its blossoms every night, also 
beetles, young bees, and honey. But her favor- 
ite food, of which she was passionately fond, 
was a number of Termites, or White Ants. 

But on this hot day she was so desperately 
hungry that she would not have minded what 
it was. And yet, as it happened, the very first 
thing she found was a huge nest of Termites. 
It was a long way beneath the ground, but she 
scented it at once,* and with a little puffing, 
humming noise set to work with a will. 

With her long, sharp claws, five on each foot, 
she scraped away the earth, under which, with 
so much care and trouble, the Termites had built 

*The Sloth-bear's sense of smell is wonderfully acute, and 
it is able to detect supplies of honey and ants' nests when far 
below the ground. — Author. 

267 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

their home. It took a little time, for the nest 
was a long way down, but at last she came upon 
the galleries, wonderfully and cleverly con- 
structed, and running in all directions from the 
royal chamber, which formed the centre of the 
nest. These she very soon destroyed, while the 
ants, bewildered and terrified, rushed hither and 
thither, only to be tossed up and down and in all 
directions by those powerful claws like the very 
dust which surrounded them. 

But at last she came upon the combs at the 
bottom of the nest, and, when these were 
reached, Slocum, who could send out tremendous 
blasts of air from her mouth, like all her 
kindred, gave big, violent puffs over and over 
again, until all the dust and every particle of 
the crumbled remnants of the beautiful home 
of the Termites was blown away. 

After this, instead of blowing, she sucked in 
her breath with such tremendous force, that in 
spite of all efforts— and they made some very 
frantic ones— every one of the Termites, how- 
ever carefully enclosed in the combs, was forced 

263 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

out and into the very mouth and throat of the 
Sloth-bear. 

Even the king and queen, who had been try- 
ing in vain to get out, not knowing the terrible 
fate which awaited them, were forced out as 
well and went just the same way as all the others. 
And, oh! how Slocum enjoyed them. They 
were a well-fed, healthy set of ants and just in 
capital condition, and she was so hungry that 
she thought she had never tasted anything so 
delicious in all her life. 

As she drew in her breath and the ants at the 
same time, she gave curious little grunts of satis- 
faction, and never stopped except to take breath 
until she had demolished the lot, with the ex- 
ception of a few stray ants who wandered aim- 
lessly about, not knowing where to go or which 
way to turn. 

So taken up had she been with destroying the 
ants' nest, and drawing out and eating the ants, 
that she had not noticed two enemies creeping 
slowly and cautiously towards her. Slocum had 
neither good hearing nor good sight, although 

269 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

her sense of smell was so keen, and so, although 
after a time she suspected something, she did not 
move, but peered about, screwing her small eyes 
up like a near-sighted person, in the effort to see 
what it was. 

By this time the enemies— who were two men 
who just happened to want a Sloth-bear — were 
quite close to her, and Slocum was in greater 
danger than she ever realized. But as soon as 
she saw what it was she wasted no time, but set 
off. As a rule, her usual way of moving over 
the ground was by a quick walk, but now she 
started off into a clumsy, awkward gallop— so 
ungainly and with such ridiculous antics that the 
two men could not shoot for laughing. 

As she went along she appeared to be 
tumbling wildly over and over, but nothing 
stopped her, and she climbed over a huge fallen 
tree with an agility that surprised the hunters. 
They had no intention of losing her, so, realizing 
that unless they were quick she would get ahead 
of them, the men stopped laughing and tore 
after her as fast as they possibly could. 

270 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

Fortunately for Slocum, they came just then 
to a steep side of a hill which dropped suddenly 
to a valley below, and, hearing the pursuers close 
behind her, Slocum did a thing which not only 
surprised her pursuers, but made it quite im- 
possible for them to keep up with her. For, not 
even stopping to look back, Slocum suddenly let 
herself go, and away she went down the hill 
higgledy-piggledy, head over heels, looking like 
all hair and limbs, and never stopped until she 
arrived at the bottom, safe and sound, but a little 
giddy and somewhat bewildered. 

She soon recovered herself, however, and, 
with one look at her enemies, she ambled 
awkwardly off to her carefully concealed 
cave not far away, where her precious little 
cubs were anxiously awaiting their mother's 
return. 

The hunters followed her slowly and looked 
carefully for her tracks, but when they found 
it led to a cave they gave it up. It was one 
thing to face a Sloth-bear in the open, but it 
was far too dangerous to enter or even go too 

1 7— Wild Creatures Afield 2 71 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

near the eave. For they concluded from several 
indications that she had cubs, and a Mother 
Sloth-bear is a very dangerous animal to face at 
any time. So the hunters turned back, and 
Slocum was left in peace with her babies. 

And very proud she was of them. They were 
about as ugly and ungainly-looking little ani- 
mals as could be seen anywhere, and awkward 
to a degree, but in their mother 's eyes they were 
wonderful little beings, and she cherished and 
cared for them, guarded them carefully from 
danger, and watched their growth with the keen 
pleasure and delight which only mothers can 
realize. 

Slocum herself was a very ugly, uncouth-look- 
ing animal. She measured about five feet in 
the length of her head and body ; she stood about 
two feet high at the shoulders and weighed 
nearly two hundred pounds. Her long pear- 
shaped head, with its peculiar long, mobile snout 
and upper lip, and tiny eyes; her dirty gray 
muzzle and rough, shaggy, black fur; and her 
short hind legs, all seemed to have been a com- 

272 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

bination to make her about as ugly and awkward 
a looking animal as possible. 

The only thing which brightened her were 
her perfectly white claws. These claws were very 
long and very sharp, and, when used by her in 
anger or in defense, proved themselves to be 
terrible weapons, for they could tear a man to 
pieces. The two little cubs were more odd-look- 
ing than Slocum herself, and performed more 
ridiculous antics and gambols when being taken 
out than even their mother did. But they all 
seemed to think everything was pleasant and 
just as it should be, and so they had fine times 
together and were very happy. 

Almost the first thing that Slocum taught them 
to do was to dig out ants ' nests, and pick up the 
blossoms of the beautiful Mowha-tree. But be- 
fore starting out there were a great many 
preparations to make and many things to ar- 
range and settle. In the first place, as her babies 
were so young, Slocum did not expect them to 
walk, so she lowered herself a little and then 
the two cubs climbed up on her back— not with- 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

out a good many clumsy tumbles at f? rst— and 
in this way she carried them carefully to what- 
ever place she wanted to go. 

It did not look to an outsider like a particu- 
larly comfortable or pleasant ride, for Slocum 
stumbled and ambled, and shook them up until 
they seemed likely to topple over every minute. 
But when they did tumble off, she always waited 
until they had scrambled up again, and then off 
they went as before. When they arrived at an 
ants* nest, the young ones got down and waited 
while Slocum scraped away the earth, and got 
nearly down to the galleries. Then they both 
joined in, and did everything they saw their 
mother do — blew away the dust, sucked in their 
breath until they found some nice, fat ants in 
their mouth, and then swallowed them with 
delight. 

But at the very slightest sign of danger, they 
would stop suddenly, scramble hurriedly up on 
their mother's back, and make curious little 
noises and give funny little puffs to show their 
anxiety. Then they had to learn how to get 

2 74 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

honey; how to climb trees in order to get the 
fruits (and this was the most difficult thing of 
all, for Sloth-bears are not good climbers) ; how 
to catch beetles and larvae; and, sad to relate, 
how to rob birds ' nests of their eggs. 

All these things they learned, and Slocum 
took great care of them until they were several 
months old, and about the size of ordinary sheep 
dogs. By this time there was not room for both 
of them on their mother's back, and they were 
certainly quite big and strong enough to walk, 
but, as they seemed to enjoy these rides quite as 
much as when they were tiny, one would ride on 
the mother's back and the other walk by the side. 

And there were some pretty severe quarrels 
and fights about this matter occasionally. Both 
wanted to get up, and as it was the one who got 
there first who had the ride, the scrambling got 
pretty rough sometimes, and Slocum often came 
in for some very severe scratches and clawings, 
which she as often returned with such severity 
that the scramble would end, once now and 
again, in a general quarrel all round. But they 

275 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

understood each other very well, their quarrels 
were soon over, and they were as happy as ever. 

One day, however, a terrible thing happened. 
They were all walking through the forest on 
their way to a beautiful sugar-cane field — 
for Sloth-bears are particularly fond of sugar- 
canes— when Slocum noticed a number of little 
vessels hanging on the branches of some palm- 
trees. With great difficulty she climbed up to 
see what they were and found they were half 
full of the most delicious juice.* 

It was so delicious, in fact, that Slocum even 
forgot to tell her babies to come up, and sucked 
and sucked until she felt so queer and giddy that 
she could hardly get down the tree again. When 
she did get down, all she could do was just to 
lie down where she was and go sound asleep. 
In vain the little cubs did their best to awaken 



*The Sloth-bear will often go to these vessels, which are 
hung on the palm trees to catch the juice, of which they 
are so fond that they are said not to leave off until they 
are very intoxicated. The palm-civets and the fox-bats also 
do the same thing. — Author. 

276 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

her by patting her— making queer little noises, 
and crying for food. 

Not a sound or even a movement could they 
get out of their mother, and, there being nothing 
else to do, they finally settled themselves down 
by her, sucked their paws comfortably, and made 
that curious little drumming noise that all bears 
make when doing this. But they got very tired 
at last and very hungry, and, not being able to 
understand their mother's long silence, they at 
last left her and wandered back to the cave 
again. 

And when Slocum woke up some hours after- 
wards and found that her cubs had left her, she 
gave such a weird, unearthly scream, so startling 
and terrifying, that the very woods resounded 
again. Without a moment's hesitation she 
ambled off towards the cave in great distress, 
moaning and grumbling and whimpering to her- 
self, and so worried that she could scarcely see 
where she was going; she was such a loving, 
devoted mother, and so proud of her little ones. 

But when she drew near her old home, her dis- 
277 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

tress was so great that she could not help making 
another of those terrifying noises, and this noise 
the little cubs heard dimly at first, for they were 
both fast asleep, but when, seeing no sign of 
them, she gave another one, more shrill and 
weird than before, the little cubs woke up with a 
start, winked their eyes once or twice, listened a 
minute, and then tore out to meet her, wild with 
joy. 

And what a meeting that was! Slocum had 
never been so pleased before to see them, 
and never caressed them so tenderly. For some 
little time she forgot everything but that she had 
found her little ones again, and that they were 
well and unhurt. And the little cubs were 
doubly pleased to find their mother, for they had 
been so frightened in that cave all by themselves, 
and were desperately hungry. 

So, when they had relieved their feelings a 
little, their mother gave them as much supper as 
they wanted, and they were all very happy once 
more. But after this —whether Slocum was 
afraid of losing her children again, or whether 

278 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

she felt a little ashamed of the effects of that 
juice, I don't know— but whenever she saw any 
little cups or basins hanging on palm-trees she 
always turned away, and took her little ones in 
another direction. And the little Sloth-bears, 
knowing nothing about it, followed her obedi- 
ently, as they always did. 



279 



THE TASMANIAN DEVIL 



THE TASMANIAN DEVIL 




had an ugly name and an ugly 
nature, and lived up to both to 
such a degree that every living 
thing— both small and big— went 
in constant fear and dread of him. 
This was Tartar, the Tasmanian Devil, and 
he was as ugly and repulsive in appearance as 
in everything else. His body was about the size 
of an ordinary badger's, but it was so power- 
fully and sturdily built, and he possessed 
so much muscular strength, that it was not 
much wonder he was so terribly feared and 
hated. 

His large, wide head, covered with thick, close 
fur, surmounted with large rounded ears; his 
wicked, vicious eyes; his short, broad muzzle, 

283 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

and his mouth, full of closely packed powerful 
teeth, with the flexible upper lip always drawn 
up in a threatening snarl, were enough to 
frighten any one at the first glance, but it was 
only those who knew him who actually realized 
what a terrible creature he was. 

His body was covered with the same sort of 
close, straight fur as his head, except that there 
was a thick growth of under fur which gave him 
a thick, stodgy appearance. His flat, furry feet 
—very like a bear's— were furnished with tre- 
mendously strong claws, particularly the fore- 
feet, and these made nearly as much havoc 
sometimes as his teeth. The only relief to 
the blackish-brown color of his whole body 
was a white patch on his throat, and, in some 
curious way, this white patch always seemed 
to make the rest of him look blacker than 
ever. 

On this particular day, Tartar was in one of 
his most vicious and ill-natured moods, and was 
just ready for any mischief that came to hand. 
He had been sound asleep in his burrow all day, 

284 



THE T ASM AN IAN DEVIL 

for he hated light of any sort, and a glimpse of 
the sun nearly blinded him.* 

Now, for some reason or other, food had not 
been quite as plentiful as usual lately, and al- 
though Tartar was not at all particular as to 
what he ate, so that it was a living creature of 
some kind, there were certain foods that he 
preferred to others. One of his favorite dainties 
was a nice young lamb, and as there were plenty 
of farms round about he had never had any 
difficulty in getting what he wanted. 

But the farm that he lived on —which was the 
largest and best for miles round— had changed 
owners lately, and a strange man had taken up 
his quarters there— a man who was so restless 
and sharp-eyed that he was always looking 
round the farm just when he was not wanted, 
and, what was worse still, carried a long, thick 



*This objection to light on the part of the Tasmanian Devil 
is often the means of his capture or death. If once he can be 
induced to leave his burrow and come out into the sunlight, 
he is practically helpless, the sun having such a blinding effect 
that he is unable to see where he is going. — Author. 



285 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

stick that spat fire and smoke whenever lie 
chose to make it. And Tartar did not like fire 
and smoke, and so had taken care to keep out 
of his way. 

But it was not that which made him feel 
vicious just then. It was that he had found out 
that this stupid man had put all his sheep, lambs, 
and any nice, tender animals which make a good 
supper, into strong sheds and stables, and so 
carefully fastened them up that it was impos- 
sible to get hold of a single one. In vain 
Tartar used his powerful teeth on the fastenings 
and locks. They were all made of some hard, 
cold stuff on which he could make no impression 
whatever, and when he bit very hard, they even 
made his teeth ache. 

Once he had found a nice wooden place 
which he could very soon have gnawed through, 
but just as he was doing it, up came the sharp- 
eyed farmer, and Tartar, with a vicious snarl, 
decided it would be wiser for him to go back into 
his burrow for a time. 

But to-night he had a new idea. He would 
286 



THE TASMANIAN DEVIL 

try no more fastenings and cold, hard locks; he 
would make a burrow underneath the ground, 
and so get into the sheds that way. He wasted 
no time, for he always had a huge appetite, and 
was desperately hungry; so, with his sharp, 
strong claws he set to work, and after some time 
and much labor found himself actually inside a 
shed full of beautiful fat sheep and lambs. 

The poor animals were terrified; they knew 
only too well what it meant, and while the poor 
mothers bleated and "baa'd" in their deep 
voices, the little lambs "baaM" back again in 
their gentle tones, crept close to their mothers, 
and quivered with fright. But they did not 
"baa" long, poor things, for Tartar soon put an 
end to their lives by a few sharp bites from his 
cruel teeth. 

He could not possibly eat even one lamb for 
his supper, but he always killed as large a num- 
ber as he possibly could, for he loved killing, 
and this was one of the reasons he was so hated 
and dreaded by the farmers. To destroy life 
was one of his greatest pleasures, and when he 

18— Wild Creatures AJield 2 O -. 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

had thoroughly enjoyed himself in this way 
and had killed nearly all the animals in the 
shed, he settled himself down and had a good 
supper. 

He had rather an odd way of eating. Tearing 
a piece of meat off: one of the animals he had 
killed, he would sit bolt upright, just like a bear 
or a squirrel, and, holding the piece of meat in 
his forepaws, eat it at his leisure, smacking his 
lips and growling to himself as though in mem- 
ory of the time he had had in killing the poor 
animals. 

And while he was taking it easily in this man- 
ner and enjoying himself, the farmer was walk- 
ing about outside, keeping a sharp lookout, and 
holding his gun in readiness, for he knew there 
were one or two Devils about, and meant to 
waste no time and take no rest until he had 
killed them. He little dreamt that at that 
very moment one was actually eating one of 
his lambs, and had destroyed more than he 
could afford to buy again for many years to 
come ! 

2S8 



THE T A S M A N 1 A N D EVIL 

But early the next morning a terrible sight 
met his eyes. All the fine prize animals which 
had cost him a small fortune, and which he had 
spent so many sleepless nights in guarding so 
carefully, were dead, and he knew only too well 
by the signs that it was the work of those Tas- 
manian Devils. 

At the sight of it, and the thought of all it 
meant to his wife and family, the poor farmer 
sank down in the shed and groaned, and had it 
not been that he was a grown-up man, one would 
have imagined that his eyes were full of tears, 
and that he was shaking with sobs. But this 
was only for a minute. He soon began to look 
round, and at once made up his mind that he 
would catch those vicious little animals in some 
way or another. 

So he wasted no time fretting, but set to work 
with a will, cleared away all the poor, mangled 
bodies, and by the same evening there was a 
nice clean shed once more, only this time, instead 
of a large number of sheep and lambs, there was 
only one little lamb and he was so frightened 

289 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

and miserable that it was quite pitiful to see him. 
But his master was uot being so cruel as he 
seemed. 

He did not intend any harm to come to the 
little lamb if he could possibly help it, but he 
wanted the Tasmanian Devil to pay another 
visit to the shed that night, and he knew he would 
not come unless there was at least one living 
creature for him to kill. So, when he had tied 
the little lamb up, he gave its small woolly head 
a gentle pat as if to reassure it, and then fixed 
a peculiar-looking thing just at the mouth of the 
burrow through which Tartar had crept the 
night before. 

He covered over this peculiar thing with 
straw and hay, and then sat down, gun in hand, 
to wait. Hour after hour went by. The moon 
crept out, peeped in through the crevices of the 
shed and made it just light enough for the 
farmer to look round. But suddenly, after a 
long, weary wait, there was a rustle, a pause, 
and then a scamper, followed by a snapping 
noise, a loud bang, two terrible screams, and 

290 



THE T ASM AN IAN DEVIL 

then a silence broken only by the painful bleat- 
ing of the little lamb. 

Then the farmer struck a match and lighted 
his lantern, which he had brought with him. 
And as he raised it, he saw a far more peculiar 
sight than he had seen the night before. On the 
floor of the shed were two Tasmanian Devils- 
one limp and dead, and the other struggling 
frantically to free one leg which had got caught 
in a steel trap. 

The struggling one was Tartar, and the dead 
one was his wife, whom he had invited to come 
and help him kill sheep and lambs. At the sight 
of the bright light, Tartar shut his eyes tightly 
and shrieked again and again, struggling with 
his whole strength to get free and biting so 
viciously at the trap that it was a wonder he did 
not break his teeth. But it was all no use. The 
trap was made of the same cold, hard stuff as the 
bolts and bars, and his teeth made no impression 
beyond a few scratches. 

And then the farmer had his revenge. He 
lifted his arm and shot Tartar dead, and had 

291 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

the satisfaction of knowing he had killed a pair 
of Tasmanian Devils, who probably had a large 
family concealed somewhere, but who would 
now die for want of food. This meant that 
there would be about ten or twelve less Tas- 
manian Devils round about the farm, which 
would make all the difference to the poor ani- 
mals. 

So, although he had lost so many sheep and 
lambs, the farmer concluded that perhaps it was 
all for the best, and for the future he was even 
more careful than before. And whether the 
other Tasmanian Devils heard of this I don't 
know, but he saw no more of them for many a 
day, but was able to rear his sheep and other 
animals in safety. 

And the poor little lamb who had had such a 
terrible time went back to his mother, and grew 
to be a full-grown sheep himself in time, but 
in some curious way he was terribly afraid of 
Tasmanian Devils as long as he lived. 



292 



THE DUCKBILL 



THE DUCKBILL 




T was in vain that Dumpy, the Duckbill, 
hunted and hunted for the opening 
of her burrow in the thick herbage 
and grasses just above the deep, still 
pool where she made her home. 
It was only a short time before that she had 
come out of that particular opening, and now, 
instead of the usual space in among the grasses, 
which led to her burrow and home, there was a 
hard bank of earth which resisted even her 
strong feet and sharp claws. 

Dumpy was a queer-looking little object 
as she waddled clumsily to and fro. She 
had a flat, oval body, something like an ani- 
mal % covered with short, close fur, very 
like that of a mole; this fur was a deep, 

295 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

dark brown on top, and a pale brown under- 
neath. She had very short dumpy legs, 
terminating in curious webbed feet with five 
toes on each. These toes were furnished at 
the tips with very long, strong nails, for, in 
addition to being a good swimmer, the Duck- 
bill is also able to burrow. 

Perhaps the most curious part about Dumpy 
was her head. It was flat, with tiny eyes, no 
ears to be seen, and a bill which was very much 
like a duck's. In fact, just at first, one would 
wonder what she really was. 

She rustled about in a great state for some 
time, for she had two newly laid eggs in her 
home below, and longed to get at them. What 
if something had happened to them, or some one 
had taken them! She scrambled about in her 
awkward manner until she was almost too ex- 
hausted to move. 

Then she suddenly remembered the opening 
under water, and in another moment was in 
the water and diving down as fast as she 
could go. She had no difficulty this time in find- 

296 



THE DUCKBILL 

ing the entrance, and, once in, she ran at her 
fastest speed to get to the nice comfortable place 
she had made for her eggs. 

Dumpy had a long way to go, for the burrow- 
was nearly thirty feet long, but she scrambled 
on, never once stopping until at last she entered 
the little cave she had so carefully and with so 
much labor hollowed out, and could be sure that 
her beautiful eggs were quite safe. 

But there they were, just as she had left them. 
Two small, white eggs in strong, flexible shells 
lying side by side on some dry grasses and 
leaves. So delighted was Dumpy to see them 
again and to know they were safe that she at 
once went and curled herself up on them, cover- 
ing them with her warm, soft, furry body in very 
much the same manner in which a bird sits on 
the nest. 

Now, as a rule, Dumpy was never so happy as 
when sitting on her eggs, but this evening she 
felt uneasy and worried, for the curious way in 
which the land end of her burrow was covered 
up meant mischief. 

297 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

If it did not mean mischief from an enemy, it 
meant something far more serious still, and that 
was, that, unless she was able to open it again, 
her little ones would not be able to go out that 
way. Little Duckbills are always afraid of the 
water just at first, and the mother generally 
lets them take a little walk on land to begin 
with. 

But, worried as she was, Dumpy got very 
sleepy after a time, and went sound asleep and 
did not wake up until the next morning. And 
when she did wake up, she saw to her surprise 
that the soft egg-shells had burst open, and two 
funny little creatures, blind and naked, with 
soft, short bills which opened incessantly in a 
circle, and with curious little webbed feet, were 
under her, nestling into her warm, soft body, 
and evidently very hungry. 

Dumpy was so pleased and proud that she set- 
tled herself down again, and even forgot to get 
herself food. At last, feeling tired and hungry, 
she wandered up to the land opening of her 
burrow to get something to eat. 

298 



THE DUCKBILL 

She usually went to the water first, but for 
some reason this particular morning she went 
upwards. It was not until she got to the end 
of the tunnel that she came to the obstacle 
again, and then she made a determined effort 
to break through it. But, strong as Dumpy was, 
and good as she was at burrowing, she could 
make no impression whatever on this hard 
substance, and so was obliged at last to turn back 
again. 

This time she passed straight through her 
comfortable little house without stopping, and 
went on to the water entrance. Once there, 
away she went into the water and down to the 
mud-banks, where she dipped her wide, strong 
bill deep down into the soft mud and brought up 
any snails, worms, or slugs she could find. These 
she stored carefully into her cheek-pouches, one 
of which she had in each cheek, and when she 
had collected enough for a good breakfast, she 
once more made her way back to her home, and 
there ate it at her leisure. 

But she was still uneasy about her land en- 
299 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

trance, and that evening when it grew dusk she 
kept a careful watch. Every now and then she 
would pop up to the top of the water, and when 
she did this she looked exactly like an old black 
bottle floating on the surface, for her short legs 
were tucked under her, and her wide, flat tail 
hung straight out behind her. 

And this is why her enemies, who were also 
keeping a careful lookout, did not notice her at 
all. But Dumpy saw them quickly enough. She 
also saw what they were doing. A man and 
some boys were trying to burrow down into the 
earth with long sticks just to find out where- 
abouts the Duckbill 's nest really was. But they 
did not find it, and, after seeing them move 
off, Dumpy went home again to give her babies 
their supper, and then she wandered off once 
more. 

This time she neither went to the land en- 
trance nor the water entrance, but, when in the 
middle of her tunnel, began to burrow in an 
oblique direction, and before very long had 
another tunnel almost as long as her first one. 

300 



THE DUCKBILL 

It was some time, however, before she finished it, 
and by then the little ones had grown stronger, 
had eaten np the remains of the eggs from which 
they had been hatched themselves,* and were 
qnite ready for any fresh snails, slugs, or worms 
they could get. 

So, one day, when Dumpy had given them a 
good feed, she took them out of the old home, 
which had been prepared so carefully for them, 
to a new burrow, the land end of which came 
out in quite a different direction from the old 
one, and was more cunningly hidden in the thick 
grasses and herbage. 

And when she had settled them comfortably 
in their new quarters, she went back to the end 
of the tunnel which led into their old home, and 
closed and sealed it carefully. She had made 
a water entrance to their new home, and did not 
want two ; moreover, she evidently remembered 
her enemies. 

*The eggs of the Duckbill are very large yolks, a large 
portion of which is left when the young are hatched, and is 
used by them as food. — Author. 

301 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

And that very same day— about two weeks 
from the time Dumpy had first found out the 
danger— the man and boys came again to the 
land opening of the old home, and did what 
Dumpy had tried in vain to do, dig away the 
stuff which closed it. It did not take them long, 
for they had sharp pickaxes and spades, and 
very soon had it open again. 

And when they had opened it they went on 
digging for a long, long time until they all had 
to stop and wipe their faces, because they were 
so hot and tired. But at last they had dug al- 
most down to the very place where Dumpy had 
laid her eggs. 

"Now we are near it," the man said pleas- 
antly; "we have come to the open space. This 
shows we are almost on the nest of the Duck- 
bill, but they are very shy creatures, so we must 
be very quiet and careful. ' ' 

They were very careful, but when they had 
dug a little bit farther, and came upon the open 
space, there were only some dry leaves and 
grasses, the remains of soft egg-shells, and some 

302 



THE DUCKBILL 

loose earth, which appeared to have been thrown 
over it all. 

The man looked very disappointed, and the 
boys looked at him inquiringly. 

"Well!" the man said with a sigh, as he 
wiped his streaming face once more, "I'm 
afraid weVe left it until too late, boys. The 
Mother Duckbill has deserted this burrow and 
gone to a new one. I have no doubt she is ever 
so far off by this time, and out of our reach. 
Another time we won't wait so long. I didn't 
think she would hatch for another week. ' ' 

But the Mother Duckbill was not so very far 
off, as you know, and, had they only known it, 
was watching them all the time. She was a 
little afraid at first that they would find the 
entrance to her new home, but when she saw 
them all walk off, she scuttled down into her 
burrow again in her clumsy way, delighted to 
get back to her babies once more. 

And that evening there appeared at the top of 
the water what looked like one big black bottle 
and two little ones, but, in reality, these were 

J9— Wild Creatures Afield 303 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

Dumpy and her two children. And what fine 
times they had! Dumpy taught them how to 
swim, how to float, and how to dive deep, deep 
down into the water at the very slightest sign of 
danger. 

And as the time went on and the two little 
Duckbills grew big and strong, they found other 
Duckbills in Tasmania and were so friendly 
that they generally all kept together,* and were 
very happy. 

So, you see, Dumpy was very clever, although 
she was only a Duckbill. But then she was a 
mother, and mothers are always clever when 
they have little ones to take care of. 

^Although gregarious in the water, Duckbills keep very 
much to themselves in their burrows. — Author. 



304 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 




EALS of laughter rang out in the 
clear, warm air— so joyous, so 
cheery, and infectious that it was 
almost impossible to help joining in. 
After several of these peals, there 
would be a little pause, and then the laughter 
would begin again ; softly at first, with a curious 
little chuckle, and then increase until the neigh- 
boring echoes took it up and laughed again and 
again. 

The Australian Bushmen, who heard it, 
nodded their heads wisely and looked pleased, 
because they looked upon it as a sign of fine 
weather; the small birds listened with their 
heads on one side, and their tails whisking up 
and down ; the small rodents, such as rats, mice, 

307 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

etc., scampered away hurriedly, while the 
lizards, snakes, and insects drew back cautiously 
out of sight. 

And all this noise and commotion was made 
by Giglums, the Laughing Jackass, who had 
been given this name by the Bushmen from his 
habit of laughing at all times and in all places, 
without any particular reason except that the 
sun was shining. He was sitting on the branch 
of a tree which overhung the water, and al- 
though he appeared to be thinking of nothing 
but laughing and chuckling, he was keeping a 
sharp lookout, for at the bottom of the tree on 
which he was resting, in a nice hollow, his wife 
had two beautiful pearl-white eggs, and if 
Giglums saw any creature go near the tree, he 
fluttered his wings, stopped his laughter and 
flew down in fierce anger. 

Like all the Kingfishers, Giglums was a large 
eater, and after awhile he got tired of laughing 
and very, very hungry, so he kept perfectly still 
and watched the water below him anxiously. 
But it was not a good day for fishing; the sky 

308 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 

was too blue and the sun too bright, and it 
was a whole hour before Giglums saw a single 
fish. 

Then, one unsuspecting, silvery little creature 
popped his head out of the water after a fly, and 
instantly Giglums was after him. But for some 
reason or other he missed his aim, and found 
himself in the water without getting anything 
for his trouble. But a Kingfisher minds the 
water no more than a duck, for, having small, 
close-fitting feathers, the water runs off, leaving 
him as dry as before. 

After shaking himself a little and pluming 
his feathers, Giglums, who by this time was 
simply ravenous, decided he would not do any 
more fishing that day, and set to work to find 
some other food which would be easier and 
quicker to catch. He began to look about, and 
as he was now ready to eat anything and every- 
thing which came in his way, picked up an in- 
sect or two as a beginning. After this he 
found a fishbone, and this he took up in 
his beak, and into the hollow of the tree, 

309 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

where lie placed it carefully with the pearl-white 

eggs.* 

There was no sign of a nest, but there were 
other fishbones there thrown round and about 
the eggs, and the rotten wood of the tree made 
a soft resting-place for them. Giglums ' wife 
looked at the fishbone with approval, but was 
evidently disappointed to find it was not some- 
thing nice to eat. 

Giglums was a very good husband, and he set 
off at once. As he had kept quiet now for some 
time, the creatures who had all been so fright- 
ened at the noise he made had come out again, 
and in a very short time he took a meal to his 
wife, as varied and dainty as any Kingfisher 
could wish. 

He found a nice, fat crab to begin with, then 
a mouse, a few insects, and lastly a delicious 
young lizard. Giglums could hardly make up 
his mind to take in that lizard to his wife, for it 



*We are told by some authorities that these fishbones are 
placed round and about the eggs by the birds, with the idea 
of forming a nest. — Author. 

3IO 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 

was one of his favorite foods, and he was des- 
perately hungry by this time. But he took it 
in finally, and very pleased his wife was. 

But he couldn't stay and watch her eat it; that 
was too much. So he hurried out once more and 
was fortunate enough to find another lizard, 
young and even larger than the one he had 
given his wife, and he was so delighted with it 
that he carried it off to a nice shady place where 
he was not likely to be disturbed, and enjoyed it 
at his leisure. He had a few other things before 
he had finished, a rat, which was so big he 
could scarcely swallow it, a young snake, and a 
few berries. 

He would rest a little in between, and seemed 
so bright, brisk, and happy that it was a pleas- 
ure to look at him. He was an odd-looking bird, 
in spite of his bright, happy air. He had a 
brownish body, measuring about sixteen inches, 
the lower part of his back being a green- 
ish blue; a large head with a crest of brown 
feathers tipped with white; broad white eye- 
brows, which joined the white feathers round his 

3ii 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

neck; a whitish breast; and a tail about six 
inches long with striped feathers. His beak was 
thick and very strong, beautifully adapted for 
catching small reptiles, animals, and fish. 

When he had eaten as much, and rather more, 
than he wanted, Giglums settled himself com- 
fortably and had a good sleep. It was a very 
hot day, he had worked very hard at providing 
food for himself and wife, and, having had a 
good meal, there was not much to trouble 
about. As he slept and his big head drooped a 
little, the sun covered him with a golden cloak, 
making his brown, dull feathers look bright and 
shiny, and the green ones on his back glisten and 
shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow. 

And when he woke up after a long sleep, he 
plumed his feathers, and had another fit of 
laughter, scaring the birds, making all the small 
creatures scamper away in fear, and sending 
weird echoes through the surrounding woods. 
It was a glorious and joyous day, and why 
shouldn't he laugh? 

But the next morning Giglums was a very 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 

different-looking creature. He bad lost all 
semblance of bis former bright self. His feath- 
ers were ruffled, his wings drooped and drooped 
until they could droop no further, and he sat 
aud moped until be looked the very picture of 
misery and wretchedness. 

He seemed too sick and miserable to even hold 
up his head, and had an untidy, bedraggled ap- 
pearance, just like an old hen who has been 
caught in a shower. No one would have 
dreamed that he was the very same Kingfisher 
who, only the day before, had been so brisk, and 
bright, and happy, filling the air with his peals 
of laughter. 

And all this was because it was a dull morn- 
ing, a few heavy, dark clouds were in the sky, 
and there was no sun to be seen. Giglums hated 
dull weather, and knew perfectly well by the 
feel of it that rain was coming, and a more 
miserable-looking object than a Laughing Jack- 
ass in wet weather, it would be almost impossible 
to find. 

He sat on the bough of the tree which was his 

313 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

home, with his body humped up, and all his 
feathers drooping until a few rain-drops fell, 
and then, looking utterly crushed, Giglums de- 
cided to go inside and keep his wife company. 
He was just as miserable in the dry root of the 
tree, but he was at least out of the wet, and there 
he stayed for hours, a poor, feeble-looking, di- 
lapidated bird, opening his mouth once now and 
then in a weak manner as though almost at his 
last gasp. 

And then, in the middle of the afternoon, he 
suddenly heard something which made him for- 
get the dull weather and the rain, made him 
gather himself together with a start and caused 
him to think of nothing but his wife and their 
two precious eggs. And this something was a 
curious hissing, so soft and gentle that it could 
almost have passed for the sighing of the trees. 

But Giglums knew perfectly well what it was, 
and looked out of the tree cautiously. Pre- 
pared as he was, he could not help starting, for 
there, just in front of the hollow in the tree, was 
a snake. His long, lithe body was coiled round 

3H 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 

and round, but his head was uplifted and waving 
gently to and fro, while the soft, gentle hissing 
never stopped for a moment. 

Giglums knew perfectly well what he was 
after. All snakes are fond of birds ' eggs, and 
Giglums grew sick with terror. But there was 
no time to be lost, not even a moment, so, with 
a lightning-like dart, Giglums flew out and over 
the head of the snake, only just missing the dart 
of his tongue by an inch. 

Then, poising himself for a moment in the air, 
he suddenly darted down again, seized the snake 
by the back of its head with his big, strong beak, 
and, flying high up in the air, let it drop to the 
ground. Then, down he went again, seized it 
by the neck as before, and did the same thing 
again and again until it was dead. 

So overjoyed was Giglums at this that, leaving 
the snake on the ground, he flew up into the tree 
and laughed and laughed until he could laugh no 
longer. And then he suddenly found that the 
rain had stopped and the sun had come out 
again, and up went his head and wings, his 



WILD CREATURES AFIELD 

ruffled feathers settled themselves tidily once 
more, and he giggled and chuckled and laughed 
until he looked just like the silly old Laughing 
Jackass that he was. 

But he had saved the eggs, and very pleased 
his wife was about it, for she certainly wouldn't 
have bothered to lay any more that year. And 
when Giglums stopped laughing he brought in 
the dead snake and they ate it between them, 
and both seemed to think that it was the sweet- 
est and most tender snake they had ever eaten. 

And soon after this there came a happy, 
happy day for both. For, one fine morning first 
one egg cracked and then the other, and out 
wriggled two weak, helpless, naked little bodies, 
so thin and scraggy and with such huge heads 
and mouths that no one but a father or mother 
could have thought them anything but hideously 

ugly. 

But, in the eyes of Giglums and his wife, they 
were the most beautiful little Laughing Jack- 
asses that had ever been born, and nothing was 
too good for them. Giglums worked day and 

316 



THE LAUGHING JACKASS 

night to find delicate, nourishing food for them, 
and grew thin from watching for enemies, and 
guarding them from danger. Sometimes he 
would bring home a pretty little silvery fish; 
sometimes a frog, lizard, or some small insects ; 
at another time he would make tunnels into the 
ant-hills of red clay which are so plentiful in 
Australia, and bring some little ants by way of 
a change. 

In a very little while the young birds were 
covered with feathers. But as, at first, these 
were enclosed in little sheaths, they looked like 
funny, bristly little objects until, these feathers 
being fully grown, the sheaths suddenly fell off, 
leaving them fully plumed. 

And the day that this happened, whether it 
was that Giglums was so pleased and proud of 
his children, or whether it was because the sun 
was shining so brightly and gayly, but he sat 
and laughed until he nearly choked himself. 
And after that, can you wonder that this 
Kingfisher is always called the Laughing 
Jackass ? 

3*7 




3'8 



DEC 13 1904 



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